Integrated optical nanoscale probe

ABSTRACT

A diamond probe is suitable to be attached to an Atomic Force Microscope and is created with a tip that incorporates a one or more Nitrogen Vacancy (NV) centers located near the end of the tip. The probe arm acts as an optical waveguide to propagate the emission from the NV center with high efficiency and a beveled end directs excitation light to the NV center and directs photoluminescence light emanating from the NV center into the probe arm. The light source (or a portion of the light source), a detector, as well as an RF antenna, if used, may be mounted to the probe arm. The probe with integrated components enable excitation of photoluminescence in the NV center as well as optically detected Electron Spin Resonance (ODMR) and temperature measurements, and may further serve as a light probe utilizing the physical effect of Stimulated Emission Depletion (STED).

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No.14/952,852, filed Nov. 25, 2015, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S.application Ser. No. 14/542,410, filed Nov. 14, 2014, now U.S. Pat. No.9,482,612, and a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No.14/532,992, filed Nov. 4, 2014, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,472,217, which is acontinuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/184,610, filed Feb.19, 2014, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,885,301, and claims priority under 35 USC119 to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/950,596, filed Mar. 10, 2014,all of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.

BACKGROUND

As critical dimensions in magnetic data storage systems, e.g. hard diskdrives, are continuing to shrink to a few tens of nanometers, thedevelopment of characterization techniques that may be used inmanufacturing or research and development has become increasinglydemanding. For example, optical and magneto-optical metrology methods donot provide the spatial resolution required to determine properties ofthe write-field emanating from the write pole on the nanometer lengthscale. Magnetic Force Microscopy, on the other hand, has high spatialresolution but does not provide quantitative information about themagnetic field strength. In addition, current magnetic recording headsinclude other features that are on the nanometer length scale that aredesirable to characterize, but that cannot be adequately measured usingconventional metrology systems. By way of example, some magneticrecording heads include features such as optical near-field transducersfor heat assisted magnetic recording (HAMR), for which characterizationof the optical power in the near-field of these near-field transducersis desired. Accordingly, improved metrology methods for characterizing,e.g., magnetic recording heads is desired.

SUMMARY

A diamond probe is suitable to be attached to an Atomic Force Microscopeand is created with a tip that incorporates a one or more NitrogenVacancy (NV) centers located near the end of the tip. The probe arm actsas an optical waveguide to propagate the emission from the NV centerwith high efficiency and a beveled end directs excitation light to theNV center and directs photoluminescence light emanating from the NVcenter into the probe arm. The light source (or a portion of the lightsource), a detector, as well as an RF antenna, if used, may be mountedto the probe arm. The probe with integrated components enable excitationof photoluminescence in the NV center as well as optically detectedElectron Spin Resonance (ODMR) and temperature measurements, and mayfurther serve as a light probe utilizing the physical effect ofStimulated Emission Depletion (STED).

In one implementation, a method includes providing a bias signal to arecording head that includes a write pole to produce a magnetic fieldfrom the recording head; scanning a probe having a probe tip comprisingat least one nitrogen vacancy center through the magnetic field producedby the recording head; providing an excitation field to the at least onenitrogen vacancy center; producing excitation illumination that isincident on the at least one nitrogen vacancy center; measuringOptically Detected Spin Resonance (ODMR) by detecting a decrease in aspin dependent photoluminescence in response to the excitationillumination caused by electron spin resonance (ESR) of the at least onenitrogen vacancy center; and determining a characteristic of therecording head using the ODMR.

In one implementation, an apparatus includes a biasing source configuredto provide a bias signal; a probe card coupled to the biasing source andconfigured to be connected to a recording head that includes a writepole to provide the bias signal to the recording head that causes therecording head to produce a magnetic field; a probe having a probe tipcomprising at least one nitrogen vacancy center, the probe configured tobe scanned through the magnetic field produced by the recording head; alight source that produces excitation illumination that is incident onthe at least one nitrogen vacancy center; a radio frequency antenna thatprovides an excitation field to the at least one nitrogen vacancycenter; a detector configured to detect photoluminescence produced bythe at least one nitrogen vacancy in the probe tip; a processor coupledto the detector and configured to measure Optically Detected SpinResonance (ODMR) by detecting a decrease in a spin dependentphotoluminescence in response to the excitation illumination caused byelectron spin resonance (ESR) of the at least one nitrogen vacancycenter; and determine a characteristic of the recording head using theODMR.

In one implementation, a method of determining one or morecharacteristics of a photon emitter, the method includes producingexcitation illumination that is incident on at least one nitrogenvacancy center in a probe tip of a probe, wherein the at least onenitrogen vacancy center produces photoluminescence with an intensity inresponse to the excitation illumination; producing illumination from thephoton emitter, the illumination being incident on the at least onenitrogen vacancy center, wherein the illumination produced by the photonemitter quenches the intensity of the photoluminescence from the atleast one nitrogen vacancy center; detecting an amount of quenching ofthe intensity of the photoluminescence from the at least one nitrogenvacancy center caused by the illumination of the photon emitter; andanalyzing the amount of quenching of the intensity of thephotoluminescence to determine the one or more characteristics of thephoton emitter.

In one implementation, an apparatus for determining one or morecharacteristics of a photon emitter includes a light source thatproduces excitation illumination that is incident on at least onenitrogen vacancy center in a probe tip of a probe, wherein the at leastone nitrogen vacancy center produces photoluminescence with an intensityin response to the excitation illumination; a detector configured todetect the photoluminescence produced by the at least one nitrogenvacancy center in response to the excitation illumination; a bias sourceconfigured to provide bias signals; a probe card coupled to the biassource and configured to be connected to a device that includes thephoton emitter, the probe card provides a bias signal to the device thatcauses the photon emitter to emit illumination that is incident on theat least one nitrogen vacancy center, wherein the illumination producedby the photon emitter quenches the intensity of the photoluminescencefrom the at least one nitrogen vacancy center; and a processor coupledto control the light source and the bias source and to receive signalsfrom the detector, the processor being configured to determine an amountof quenching of the intensity of the photoluminescence from the at leastone nitrogen vacancy center caused by the illumination produced by thephoton emitter, and to analyze the amount of quenching of the intensityof the photoluminescence to determine the one or more characteristics ofthe photon emitter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an optical metrology device capable of characterizingmagnetic recording heads using photoluminescence produced by asubstitutional impurity in a crystal.

FIG. 2 schematically illustrates the energy levels of a negativelycharged nitrogen vacancy center in a diamond crystal.

FIG. 3 schematically illustrates a diamond film with a plurality ofnitrogen vacancy centers that is positioned to be in a magnetic fieldproduced by a write pole from a recording head.

FIG. 4 illustrates an optical metrology device that uses StimulatedEmission Depletion.

FIG. 5 illustrates the point spread function of excitation illuminationand depletion illumination.

FIG. 6 illustrates the effective point spread function of the combinedexcitation illumination and depletion illumination from FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 illustrates several waveforms used to measure Optically DetectedSpin Resonance using depletion illumination.

FIG. 8 schematically illustrates the use of depletion illumination tomeasure Optically Detected Spin Resonance from a diamond film with aplurality of nitrogen vacancy centers that is positioned to be in amagnetic field produced by a write pole from a recording head.

FIG. 9 schematically illustrates the use of depletion illumination tomeasure Optically Detected Spin Resonance from a diamond film with aplurality of nitrogen vacancy centers that is in contact with the airbearing surface of the recording head.

FIG. 10 schematically illustrates a diamond film with a nitrogen vacancycenter that is on an Atomic Force Microscope arm positioned to be in amagnetic field produced by a write pole from a recording head.

FIGS. 11A and 11B illustrate the temperature dependence of the ESRfrequency and resulting resonance lines at different temperatures, e.g.,300° K and 700° K.

FIG. 12 schematically illustrates a diamond film with a plurality ofnitrogen vacancy centers that is positioned to measure a near-fieldtransducers of a Heat Assisted Magnetic Recording write head.

FIG. 13 illustrates the temperature profile produced by a near fieldtransducer used in a Heat Assisted Magnetic Recording write head.

FIG. 14 is an ESR spectrum that may be generated while measuring a nearfield transducer and that may be evaluated to extract temperatureinformation.

FIG. 15 illustrates a temperature profile extracted from an ESRspectrum.

FIG. 16 illustrates an optical metrology device capable ofcharacterizing a photon emitter on a nanometer length scale usingphotoluminescence (PL) produced by a substitutional impurity in acrystal film.

FIGS. 17A and 17B, by way of example, illustrate a side view and a backview, respectively, of recording head in contact with a crystal film.

FIG. 18 is a flow chart illustrating a method of determining one or morecharacteristics of a photon emitter using NV centers and an opticalmetrology device.

FIG. 19, by way of illustration, shows a portion of a crystal film witha plurality of luminescing NV centers, illustrated as white spots.

FIG. 20 illustrates the quenching of the photoluminescence intensityproduced by the NV centers caused by a near-infrared CW laser beam.

FIG. 21 illustrates a near field illumination profile for a near fieldphoton emitter.

FIG. 22 illustrates an example of a photoluminescence quenching profilefor the NV centers of a crystal film.

FIG. 23 shows in two dimensions the detected quenching of the intensityof the photoluminescence produced by the NV centers caused by near fieldillumination of a photon emitter.

FIG. 24 shows detected photoluminescence quenching data along with a fitcurve illustrating a spatially resolved quenching profile.

FIG. 25 schematically illustrates one implementation in which a crystalfilm with one or more NV centers is held on the tip of an Atomic ForceMicroscope (AFM) arm to measure a photon emitter.

FIG. 26 illustrates an optical metrology device with additional lightsources to produce STED illumination to improve resolution and to scanthe photon emitter.

FIG. 27 illustrates the Gaussian point spread function of the excitationillumination from the optical metrology device in FIG. 26.

FIG. 28 illustrates the effective point intensity distribution of theexcitation illumination combined with the STED illumination.

FIG. 29 illustrates a probe arm assembly in which the NV center ispositioned at the tip of a probe arm and the detector is attached to theprobe arm, e.g., via a beam splitter.

FIG. 30 illustrates another embodiment of a probe arm assembly with anenlarged end of the probe arm.

FIG. 31 illustrates a closer view of the tip of the probe arm of theprobe arm assembly showing the probe arm acting as a optical waveguideby means of total internal reflection.

FIGS. 32 and 33, by way of example, illustrate a side view and a topview of the probe arm with a beam splitter mounted on a holder plate.

FIG. 34 illustrates a top view of another embodiment of a probe armassembly with a probe arm connected directly to the detector.

FIG. 35 illustrates a closer view of the tip of the probe arm of theprobe arm assembly with an RF antenna.

FIG. 36 illustrates a closer view of the tip of the probe arm of theprobe arm assembly with an absorption layer.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 illustrates an optical metrology device 100 capable ofcharacterizing magnetic recording heads using photoluminescence producedby a substitutional impurity 112 in a crystal 110. For example, one ormore nitrogen vacancy centers (NV centers) in a diamond crystal may beused. An NV center is a naturally occurring or technically createdimpurity in a diamond crystal where a Nitrogen atom replaces a Carbonatom creating a vacancy next to the Nitrogen atom. The diamond crystal,by way of example, may have a (111) crystal orientation, but othercrystalline orientations are possible. If desired, other substitutionalimpurities in crystals may be used, such as the Silicon-vacancy centerin diamond (SiV−), but for the sake of simplicity, the presentdisclosure will refer to nitrogen NV centers in diamond. The crystal maybe, e.g., a crystal film that contains a plurality of NV centers or acrystal particle that contains a single (or a few) NV centers. Ifdesired, a film may be produced that contains a plurality of crystalparticles in a suspension forming a film on, e.g. a glass substrate,each crystal particle having one or more NV centers.

The NV centers, which are basically artificial atoms with distinctquantum energy levels, show unique extrinsic and intrinsic optical spindynamics including stable photoluminescence (PL) based on radiatingtransitions between optically excited energy levels of their chargedquantum states. The PL is temperature as well as magnetic fielddependent. Further, Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) is excited in the NVcenter electronic spin system by an external radio frequency (RF)-fieldwith frequencies resonant with the transitions between the energysub-levels. At resonance, the PL intensity is measurably reduced.Moreover, the ESR is linearly dependent on an applied magnetic fieldand, thus, one or more NV centers may be used as a magnetic field sensorwith nanometer resolution using optically detected ESR (sometimesreferred to herein as ODMR (Optically Detected Magnetic Resonance) (ESRis paramagnetic resonance that falls into this category)). The ESR isalso temperature dependent, so that for a fixed applied magnetic field,the shift in ESR is a measure of temperature. For both magnetic fieldand temperature measurements, the spatial resolution is determinedfundamentally by the size of a single NV center which is on the Ängströmlength scale. Accordingly, the optical metrology device 100 mayoptically detect the PL of one or more NV centers 112 in a crystal 110,e.g. using photon counting by employing a photo detector or by using acamera with high sensitivity, to measure a variety of characteristics ofa recording head that has features with a nanometer length scale.

The optical metrology device 100 may be, e.g., a microscope such as aconfocal microscope or a wide-field microscope. For example, a confocalmicroscope may include a light source 102 that produces excitationillumination 103 that is incident on the crystal 110 with thesubstitutional impurities 112. The use of a confocal detection systemenables selection of PL coming from only a small volume of the crystal110, e.g., 1 μm³, that is associated with the spot on the surface of thecrystal 110 produced by the excitation illumination change. The lightsource 102 may be, e.g., a laser, light emitting diode (LED), etc., thatexcites the NV center with a continuous (CW) or pulsed excitationillumination, with one or more wavelengths in a range of 460 nm to 580nm, and which may be, e.g., 532 nm. With pulsed excitation illumination,the pulse width may be, e.g., approximately 800 ps with a 4-MHzrepetition rate. The light source 102 may have a power density of, e.g.,40 kW/cm², to polarize the NV center by pumping it between the groundand the excited levels. The light from the light source 102 may beprovided to a collimator consisting of lenses 104 and 106 eitherdirectly or by way of an intervening optical element, e.g., fiber opticsor a light pipe. The collimator 104, 106 expands and collimates thelight, which is focused by lens 122, which is also used to collect thePL emanating from the NV centers. In an embodiment in which the deviceis a confocal microscope, the lens 106 (and/or other appropriatelens(es)) may be moved back and forth, as illustrated by arrow 108and/or a 2-dimensional steering-mirror system could be used to move theexcitation illumination 103 relative to the back-aperture plane of theobjective lens 122 scanning the focused beam 103 in the sample plane.Additionally, appropriate apertures may be used in an embodiment inwhich the microscope is a confocal microscope. Moreover, if desired,additional light sources may be used along with light source 102.

A beam splitter 120 receives the excitation illumination from the lightsource 102 and provides at least a portion of the excitationillumination to the objective lens 122. The excitation illumination isfocused on the surface of the crystal 110 by the objective lens 122,which may have a high numerical aperture (NA=0.95) or an oil-immersionlens with an NA of, e.g. 1.3. The objective lens 122 may focus theexcitation illumination on the crystal 110 at a normal angle ofincidence. It should be understood, however, that an oblique angle ofincidence of the excitation illumination may be used if desired. Theobjective lens 122 focuses the light onto the crystal 110 with one ormore NV centers 112. The crystal 110 and NV centers 112 are positionedto be in a magnetic field produced by the recording head 114. Therecording head 114 may be a magnetic recording head, such as that usedin hard disk drives, and may be in any desired form factor includingbar, slider, HGA (head gimbal assembly), and HSA (head stack assembly).Moreover, the recording head 114 may be a Heat Assisted MagneticRecording (HAMR) write head or other type of magnetic recording head.The crystal 110 may be placed near or in contact with the recording head114, or if desired, deposited on the recording head 114. Moreover, ifdesired, an intervening layer may be located between the crystal 110 andthe recording head 114, such as a layer of a magnetic recording mediumor a layer of material with low thermal conductivity that may be heatedby a thermal device on a HAMR write head, or a reflecting layer. The NVcenters 112 in the crystal 110 may have a relatively low density suchthat the distance between adjacent NV centers 112 is greater than awidth of the write pole 116 to be measured in the recording head 114.Alternatively, a single NV center 112 may be used in the crystal 110. Insuch an embodiment, relative movement between the recording head 114 andthe crystal 110 may be produced, e.g., as illustrated by actuator 118.Alternatively, the NV centers 112 in the crystal 110 may have arelatively high density such that the distance between adjacent NVcenters 112 is similar to or less than the width of the write pole 116to be measured in the recording head 114. With a relatively high NVcenter density, relative movement between the crystal 110 and therecording head 114 may not be necessary. Moreover, in some embodiments,movement between the crystal 110 and the recording head 114 may not bepossible, for example, if the crystal 110 is applied directly to therecording head 114, e.g., during the manufacturing process. The opticalmetrology device 100, however, may include additional optic elements tomove the excitation illumination over the crystal 110, e.g., in one ortwo dimensions. In another embodiment, no relative motion is employed,e.g., between the excitation illumination and the crystal or between thecrystal and the write pole, but rather the integral ODMR signal iscollected for varying excitation fields over an area that includes thewrite pole, and the magnetic field is derived from the ODMR spectrumusing a high density NV film. In another embodiment, the magnetic fieldproduced by the recording head 114 may be varied while maintaining theexcitation field constant and the ODMR signal is detected to determinethe magnitude of the bias signal necessary to produce a desired magneticfield from the recording head 114. In another embodiment, the thermaldevice on the recording head 114 may be controlled to vary the heatingof the layer of the magnetic recording medium or the layer of materialwith low thermal conductivity while maintaining the excitation fieldconstant and the ODMR signal is detected to determine the magnitude ofthe bias signal necessary to produce the desired heating.

During measurement, PL 113 produced by the NV centers 112, illustratedby the dotted line, will be collected by the objective lens 122 anddirected by the beam splitter 120 towards a detector 130. Asillustrated, a spectral filter 124, such as a dichroic film, ispositioned before the detector 130 to remove any reflected excitationillumination and to direct only the PL to the detector 130. The spectralfilter 124, thus, may be a long-pass filter with a wavelength cut-offat, e.g., 580 nm, to filter out any remaining pump light. The detector130 may be, e.g., a non-imaging photodetector, such as a siliconavalanche photodiode operating in the signal photon regime, whichdetects the optical intensity at a single spot. Alternatively a CCDcamera can be used to detect the PL.

In addition, a radio wave frequency (RF) antenna 126 is positioned toprovide an excitation field to the crystal 110. The RF antenna 126 mayproduce a varying excitation field, e.g., that may be controlled tosweep the frequency in a continuous or stepped manner. A continuous orpulsed excitation field produced by the RF antenna 126 may have a powerof, e.g., 1 W and a frequency ranging from 1 GHz to 5 GHz. The RFantenna 126 may also produce a constant excitation field. The excitationfield produced by RF antenna 126 drives electron spin resonance whichmay be optically detected, e.g., ODMR, by detecting a drop in the spindependent PL in response to the excitation illumination caused byelectron spin resonance (ESR) of the nitrogen vacancy centers. The ODMRmay be detected while varying the excitation frequencies of theexcitation field while holding the magnetic field produced by therecording head 114 constant, while holding the excitation frequency ofthe excitation field constant while varying the magnetic field producedby the recording head 114, or while varying both the excitationfrequencies of the excitation field and the magnetic field produced bythe recording head 114.

The detector 130 is connected to a computer 140 and the computer 140receives, stores, and analyzes the optically detected data provided bythe detector 130, along with the excitation frequencies provided by RFantenna 126 associated with the data. The computer 140 includes aprocessor 142 with memory 144, as well as a user interface includinge.g., a display 146 and input devices 148. A non-transitorycomputer-usable storage medium 150 having computer-readable program codeembodied may be used by the computer 140 for causing the processor 142to control the optical metrology device 100 and to perform the functionsincluding the analysis described herein. The data structures andsoftware code for automatically implementing one or more acts describedin this detailed description can be implemented by one of ordinary skillin the art in light of the present disclosure and stored, e.g., on acomputer readable storage medium 150, which may be any device or mediumthat can store code and/or data for use by a computer system such asprocessor 142. The computer-usable storage medium 150 may be, but is notlimited to, magnetic and optical storage devices such as disk drives,magnetic tape, compact discs, and DVDs (digital versatile discs ordigital video discs). A communication port 152 may also be used toreceive instructions that are used to program the computer 140 toperform any one or more of the functions described herein and mayrepresent any type of communication connection, such as to the internetor any other computer network. Additionally, the functions describedherein may be stored in memory 155 or embodied in whole or in partwithin the circuitry of an application specific integrated circuit(ASIC) or a programmable logic device (PLD), and the functions may beembodied in a computer understandable descriptor language which may beused to create an ASIC or PLD that operates as herein described.

As illustrated, the computer 140 may be coupled to the recording head114, via a probe card 132 which is connected to the recording head 114using one or more probes 134, which may be, e.g., pogopins, probes, orother contacts such as wires that are wire bonded. The probe card 132may be coupled to a biasing source 131 that provides a bias signal, suchas a current or voltage signal, which is provided to the recording head114 via the probe card 132 and causes the recording head 114 to producea magnetic field. The biasing source 131 may be connected to andcontrolled by the computer 140. The computer 140, thus, may control themagnetic field produced by the recording head 114, e.g., by controllingthe bias signal provided to the recording head. The biasing source 131may provide a plurality of bias signals with different levels to therecording head 114. Accordingly, the recording head 114 may becontrolled via the biasing source 131 to produce a constant magneticfield, e.g., while the excitation field is varied, or to produce avarying magnetic field, while the excitation field is held constant (orvaried). The varying magnetic field produced by the recording head 114may vary continuously or in a stepped manner. The computer 140 may causethe biasing source 131 (or another biasing source) to further controlany other desired features of the recording head 114, such a thermaldevice, e.g., a high intensity light source, on the recording head 114,when the recording head 114 is, e.g., a HAMR write head. Accordingly,the recording head 114 may be controlled via the biasing source 131 toproduce a constant heat level, e.g., while the excitation field isvaried, or to produce varying heat levels, while the excitation field isheld constant (or varied). Additionally, when the recording head 114includes a Dynamic-Flying Height (DFH) device, one of the probes 134 ofthe probe card 132 may be used to provide current to the microactuatordevice from a second circuit in the current or voltage source that isconnected to the computer 140. Write heads use a DFH device as anadjustment mechanism to internally bias the write pole closer to orfurther from the air bearing surface. The DFH device is typically in theform of a heater incorporated into the write head structure, withadditional contact pads for external connection. By applying a bias tothe additional contact pads via the probe card 132, the position of thewrite pole can be adjusted towards or away from the air bearing surfaceof the write head. By adjusting the position of the write pole via theDFH device, the recording head 114 may be measured at differenttemperatures and/or vertical displacement from the crystal 110.

Additionally, when the recording head 114 includes a microactuatordevice, one of the probes 134 of the probe card 132 may be used toprovide current to the microactuator device. The source of the currentmay be a second circuit in the current or voltage source connected tothe computer 140. Write heads use a microactuator device as anadjustment mechanism to move the write pole in the cross-track directionto better align the write pole to the lands of a disk that is beingwritten to. The microactuator device is incorporated into the write headstructure, which includes additional contact pads for externalconnection. By applying a bias to the additional contact pads via theprobe card 132, the position of the write pole can be adjusted in thecross-track direction. By adjusting the position of the write pole viathe microactuator device during measurement with the device, theperformance of the microactuator may be verified and the characteristicsof the recording head 114 may be measured at different write polepositions.

The computer 140 is further coupled to control the RF antenna 126 toprovide a desired excitation field (or varying excitation field) to thecrystal 110 during measurement.

As discussed above, an NV center in diamond is a naturally occurring ortechnically created impurity in a diamond crystal where a Nitrogen atomreplaces a Carbon atom creating a vacancy next to the Nitrogen atom.Nitrogen vacancy centers may be created in a diamond crystal, e.g.,using a type-Ib HPHT single-crystal sample that is initially embeddedwith nitrogen impurities. For example, nitrogen impurities may beembedded by irradiation with a an ion-beam, e.g. N₂ ⁺ ions at 5 keV, incase of a very high purity diamond film or by an electron beam in casethe diamond film already has nitrogen impurities and annealing, e.g.,for 2 hours at 850° C. The density of the NV centers within the crystalfilm may be controlled, e.g., by controlling the applied irradiationdose, or using appropriate masking techniques. For example, an ion beamfluence of 10¹¹ cm² can result in density of 8×10¹⁰ NV cm⁻². Moreover,by controlling the energy of the implantation as well as the annealingprocess the depth of the NV centers implanted in the crystal may becontrolled.

FIG. 2 schematically illustrates the energy levels of a negativelycharged NV center in a diamond crystal. An NV center may be opticallyexcited, e.g., with excitation illumination having a wavelength rangefrom 460 nm to 580 nm, which yields an intense fluorescence emissionfrom the NV center with lifetimes in the millisecond range. For example,as illustrated, the NV center may be excited with a laser at awavelength of 532 nm and in response will emit a broadband luminescencewith a zero phonon line at 637 nm, at room temperature. FIG. 2 furtherillustrates the mechanism of stimulated emission, in which an electronin an excited state gives energy to an incoming photon and is forced tothe ground state before it can create photoluminescence by spontaneousemission. The ground state of the NV center has an electron spin tripletstructure with a zero-field frequency splitting of 2.87 GHz between them_(S)=0 and the degenerate m_(S)=±1 states. In the absence of anexternal magnetic field, e.g., from the recording head 114, a drop ofluminescence intensity is present at an excitation frequency of 2.88 GHzdue to the induced change in populations of m_(S)=0 and m_(S)=±1 spinsublevels. Thus, the location of the NV center may be identified by anoptically detected zero field magnetic resonance at ˜2.88 GHz which hasits origin in the crystal-field splitting of energy sub-levels. Themagnetic resonance occurs between the m_(s)=0 and m_(s)=±1 spinsub-levels of the spin triplet ground state ³A₂ and can be detected byeither conventional electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) or opticallydetected magnetic resonance (ODMR). The optical detection of themagnetic resonances of the NV center is enabled by the differingfluorescence of the m_(s)=0 and ±1 spin projections, i.e. thefluorescence intensity is reduced when the spin system is in resonancedue to the RF excitation.

In the presence of a magnetic field from the recording head 114, theresonance peak will split due to the Zeeman effect. As illustrated inFIG. 2, two resonance peaks may be identified, respectivelycorresponding to transitions between m_(S)=0 and m_(S)=−1, and betweenm_(S)=0 and m_(S)=+1 sublevels. The frequency of these resonance peaksis a function of the magnitude of the magnetic field and is called theLarmor frequency f given by

$\begin{matrix}{f\frac{1}{2\pi}\gamma\; B} & {{eq}.\mspace{11mu} 1}\end{matrix}$

where γ is the Gyromagnetic ratio and B the magnetic field, i.e. bymeasuring f, the magnetic field B may be determined. Thus, for magneticfield sensing applications, the magnetic field may be evaluated bymeasuring the Zeeman shifts of the NV center defect electron spinsub-levels through the optical detection of electron spin resonance(ESR), i.e., ODMR. The ODMR may be measured by detecting a decrease inthe spin dependent PL caused by ESR of the NV centers while varying theexcitation frequencies of the excitation field while holding themagnetic field produced by the recording head 114 constant, whileholding the excitation frequency of the excitation field constant whilevarying the magnetic field produced by the recording head 114, or whilevarying both the excitation frequencies of the excitation field and themagnetic field produced by the recording head 114. One of the advantagesof the use of NV center-based magnetometry is the possible combinationof atomic-scale spatial resolution with high magnetic field sensitivity,e.g., below 10 nT Hz^(−1/2), even under ambient conditions.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the m_(S)=0 spin state is dependent ontemperature D(T), and consequently the ESR frequency is temperaturedependent. Moreover, the PL intensity (I_(PL)) of an NV center and therelative I_(PL) difference between its spin states (ESR contrast), whichstrongly decrease above 550° K, may be used to measure temperature.Accordingly, one or more NV centers may serve as a nano-scalethermometer with sensitivities on the order of 100 mK/Hz between roomtemperature and 700° K. The high sensitivity and wide range of operatingtemperatures make NV centers an attractive candidate for a variety ofthermo-sensing applications such as diamond-based scanning thermalmicroscopy. The impact of temperature versus magnetic field on the ESRspectrum may be distinguished using a pulsed RF excitation field with anappropriate pulse sequence (spin echo technique), as opposed to acontinuous-wave RF excitation field. The thermal device of the recordinghead 114 may be controlled via the biasing source 131 to produce aconstant temperature while the excitation frequency of the excitationfield is varied or to produce different temperatures while holding theexcitation frequency of the excitation field constant, or while varyingboth the temperature produced by the thermal device of the recordinghead 114 and the excitation frequencies of the excitation field.

In addition, the PL of an NV center may be turned “off” in time, whenthe 532 nm excitation pulse, e.g., with a duration of 60 ps, is followedby a longer wavelength pulse e.g. 775 nm and duration 3.2 ns, ofsufficient intensity. This mechanism is known as Stimulated EmissionDepletion (STED). Alternatively, STED with CW or quasi CW illuminationmay be employed. Spatial resolution may be improved using STED tofunctionally switch off a portion of NV centers, e.g., STED microscopy.

Additionally, if desired, Ground State Depletion (GSD) may be used, asopposed to STED. Similar to STED, GSD uses depletion illumination tofunctionally switch off a portion of NV centers, but unlike STED, GSDuses the same wavelength for the excitation illumination and thedepletion illumination.

Thus, one or more NV centers in a diamond film may be used to measurethe write field of a recording head with nano-meter spatial resolutionmaking use of the optically detected Electron Spin Resonance (ODMR),which frequency spectrum depends linearly on the magnetic field.Accordingly, characteristics of the recording head, including efficiencyof the recording head, the strength of the magnetic field and physicaldimensions of the write pole may be measured. This may be carried out byexercising the write portion of the recording head with a write current,which can be a DC or an AC current, to produce the magnetic field at thewrite pole. For example, the efficiency of the recording head may bedetermined by varying the bias signal to the recording head to vary themagnetic field while maintaining the excitation field at a constantfrequency to determine the relationship between the applied bias signaland resulting magnetic field as provided by equation 1. In anotherexample, the strength of the magnetic field may be determined for anyscanned position based on the frequency of these resonance peaks, asprovided by equation 1. Additionally, one or more NV centers in adiamond film may be used to measure the near-field power of a near-fieldtransducer in a recording head used in thermally assisted magneticrecording with nano-meter spatial resolution making use of temperaturedependence of the optically detected Electron Spin Resonance or thetemperature dependency of the PL intensity. Moreover, the efficiency ofthe thermal device in the recording head may be determined by varyingthe bias signal to the thermal device to vary the temperature whilemaintaining the excitation field at a constant frequency to determinethe relationship between the applied bias signal and resulting heat.

Thus, a characteristic of the recording head 114 may be determined basedon the ESR as measured by the detector 130, the frequency of excitationfield produced by RF antenna 126, and the bias applied to the recordinghead 114 by the biasing source 131 to control the magnetic field and/orthe heat produced by the thermal device. For example, a graph may begenerated for the excitation field with respect to the bias signal. Theexcitation field may be fixed and the bias signal may be swept to varythe magnetic field or heat produced by the recording head, or the biassignal may be fixed and the excitation field swept. This process may berepeated at multiple levels of the fixed excitation field or the fixedbias signal and the magnetic field determined from the ESR, e.g., basedon equation 1. Additionally, an external thermal device may be used tocalibrate the ESR with respect to heat for one or more excitationfrequencies of the RF antenna 126, and the heat produced by, e.g., aHAMR recording head 114, at one or more bias levels may be determined bymeasuring the ESR.

FIG. 3, by way of example, schematically illustrates a diamond film 110with a plurality of NV centers 112 and that is positioned to be in amagnetic field B produced by a write pole 116 from a recording head 114.As discussed above, a light source 102 (shown in FIG. 1) producesexcitation illumination 103 that is focused by objective lens 122 ontothe diamond film 110 while an external RF excitation field is producedby the RF antenna 126 with varying excitation frequencies or pulsesequence. In response to the excitation illumination 103, the NV center112 a produces spin dependent PL 113 that is collected by the objectivelens 122 and provided to the detector 130 (shown in FIG. 1). TheOptically Detected Spin Resonance (ODMR) may be measured by detecting adecrease in the spin dependent PL 113 caused by electron spin resonance(ESR) of the NV centers at varying excitation frequencies of theexcitation field. If desired, the magnetic field of the recording head114 may be varied while maintaining a constant frequency of theexcitation field (or varying the frequency of the excitation field)while measuring ODMR.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the write pole 116 has a width W, while thedensity of the NV centers 112 in the diamond film 110 is such thatadjacent NV centers are separated by a distance d that is greater thanthe width W of the write pole 116, i.e., d>W. In such a configuration, asingle NV center may be positioned over the write pole 116, asillustrated. Relative movement between the recording head and thediamond film 110 may be produced in two dimensions, e.g., by moving therecording head with respect to the diamond film 110, thereby scanning asingle NV center over the recording head in two dimensions, asillustrated by arrows 162. The ODMR may be measured by detecting adecrease in the spin dependent PL 113 caused by electron spin resonance(ESR) of a single NV center at varying excitation frequencies of theexcitation field and/or varying magnetic fields of the recording head asthe NV center is scanned over the recording head in two dimensions.Accordingly, characteristics of the recording head 114 may be measuredwith nano-meter spatial resolution including the efficiency of therecording head, dimensions of write pole 116 and strength of themagnetic field B.

FIG. 4 illustrates an optical metrology device 100′ that is similar tothe optical metrology device 100, shown in FIG. 1, like designatedelements being the same, but that uses Stimulated Emission Depletion (orGSD) as discussed above. As illustrated, optical metrology device 100′includes a second light source 102 _(DEPL) that produces depletionillumination 103 _(DEPL), with the same or different wavelength in thecase of GSD or STED, respectively, and that is coincident on the diamondfilm 110 with the excitation illumination 103 from light source 102. Thelight source 102 produces excitation illumination 103 that has aGaussian point spread function and produces a relatively largediffraction limited spot on the diamond film 110. FIG. 5, by way ofexample, illustrates the Gaussian point spread function of theexcitation illumination 103 with a solid line. The second light source102 _(DEPL) produces light that passes through a vortex phase plate 164to produce a ring shaped beam that has a central zero intensity at thefocal plane. FIG. 5, by way of example, illustrates a ring shaped pointspread function distribution of the depletion illumination 103 _(DEPL)which is coincident with the excitation illumination 103. The depletionillumination 103 _(DEPL) quenches PL in the NV centers 112 in thediamond film 110 that are off-center, so that the off-center NV centersonly contribute a constant background, which may be subtracted from theODMR signal, thereby providing a signal from only the NV centers in thecenter of the depletion illumination 103 _(DEPL). FIG. 6 illustrates theeffective point spread function 166 of the combined excitationillumination 103 combined with the depletion illumination 103 _(DEPL).The coincident excitation illumination 103 and depletion illumination103 _(DEPL) may be scanned over the diamond film 110 to measurecharacteristics of the recording head 114 in two dimensions, e.g., usingone or more mirrors 117 in the beam path.

In the case of using GSD, the depletion illumination 103 _(DEPL) mayhave a wavelength of 532 nm, with increased power. For example, areduction in the photoluminescence may be achieved for depletionillumination 103 _(DEPL) with power greater than 2 MW/cm². The depletionillumination 103 _(DEPL) may be continuous (CW) or pulsed excitation,with a pulse width of, e.g. 150 ps, where a pulsed depletionillumination 103 _(DEPL) results in stronger photoluminescencereduction.

FIG. 7, by way of example, illustrates several waveforms that may beused to measure ODMR using depletion illumination. As illustrated, apulse of excitation illumination is provided along with the excitationfield and followed by a pulse of depletion illumination. The RFexcitation field need not be pulsed and may always be on, and one orboth of the excitation field and the magnetic field produced by therecording head 114 may be varied. The intensity of the depletionillumination is much greater than the intensity of the excitationillumination in the case of case of GSD or has a longer wavelength incase of STED. The PL signal 168 is detected after the pulsed depletionillumination.

FIG. 8 schematically illustrates the measurement of ODMR from a diamondfilm 110 with NV centers 112 similar to FIG. 3, but uses depletionillumination 103 _(DEPL), e.g., for either STED or GSD, and the diamondfilm 110 has an increased density of NV centers 112. As illustrated inFIG. 8, the density of the NV centers 112 in the diamond film 110 may besuch that adjacent NV centers are separated by a distance d that is lessthan the width W of the write pole 116, i.e., d<W. The density of NVcenters may be chosen so that a plurality of NV centers, e.g. 10×10 NVcenters, is located under the write pole 116. The coincident excitationillumination 103 and depletion illumination 103 _(DEPL) enables areduced number of NV centers to be resolved, e.g., only NV centers thatfall within the ring minimum of the depletion illumination 103 _(DEPL)are resolved. The coincident excitation illumination 103 and depletionillumination 103 _(DEPL) may be scanned in two dimensions over thediamond film, as illustrated by arrows 174, e.g., using an arrangementof mirrors in the beam path, thereby obviating the needs for an actuatorto produce relative movement between the recording head and the diamondfilm 110. The ODMR may be measured by detecting a decrease in the spindependent PL 113 caused by electron spin resonance (ESR) of the NVcenter(s) that fall within the ring minimum of the depletionillumination 103 _(DEPL) at varying excitation frequencies of theexcitation field and/or varying magnetic fields produced by therecording head 114 as excitation illumination 103 and depletionillumination 103 _(DEPL) are scanned over the recording head in twodimensions. Accordingly, characteristics of the recording head may bemeasured with nano-meter spatial resolution including dimensions ofwrite pole 116 and strength of the magnetic field B.

If desired, the diamond film 110 may be in direct contact with therecording head 114, e.g. in contact with the Air Bearing Surface (ABS)of the recording head. For example, a diamond film 110 with a relativelyhigh density of NV centers 112, e.g., such that there are a plurality ofNVC centers located under the write pole, may be directly deposited onthe ABS of the recording head. FIG. 9 schematically illustrates themeasurement of ODMR from a diamond film 110 with NV centers 112, similarto that shown in FIG. 8, but with the diamond film 110 attached to theABS of the recording head 114, i.e., directly coupled to or coupled towith one or more intervening layers. As discussed above, the coincidentexcitation illumination 103 and depletion illumination 103 _(DEPL) maybe scanned with respect to the recording head in two dimensions tomeasure ODMR at varying excitation frequencies of the excitation fieldand/or varying magnetic fields produced by the recording head 114 asexcitation illumination 103 and depletion illumination 103 _(DEPL) arescanned over the recording head in two dimensions.

FIG. 10 is similar to FIG. 3 and schematically illustrates themeasurement of ODMR from a diamond film 110 with an NV center 112 heldon the tip of an Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) arm 176 and that is incontact with the ABS of the recording head 114. As illustrated, thediamond film 110 may be a micron sized diamond particle that includes asingle or several NV centers 112. The AFM arm 176 is scanned over therecording head 114 in two dimensions, as illustrated by arrows 178 andthe PL 113 from the NV centers is collected. The ODMR may be measuredfrom the NV center(s) 112 in the diamond film 110 positioned at the tipof the AFM arm 176, at varying excitation frequencies of the excitationfield and/or varying magnetic fields produced by the recording head 114as the AFM arm 176 is scanned over the recording head in two dimensions.

In addition to measuring characteristics such as physical dimensions ofthe write pole 116 and the strength of the magnetic field B, the NVcenters 112 in a diamond film may be used to measure the heat producedby a bias controlled thermal device. In one embodiment, for example, thenear-field power at the near-field transducer of a write head forHeat-Assisted Magnetic Recording (HAMR) may be tested, but it should beunderstood that characteristics of any device that produces heat using abias controlled thermal device may be measured. Characteristics relatedto the thermal device that may be determined include, e.g., power,temperature with respect to bias signal, spatial extent of the thermaldevice, or near-field transducer, and heating characteristics such asthe spatial extent of heating and the heating width produced by thedevice. These characteristics may be determined in the same manner asthe write pole related characteristics discussed above, where heat asopposed to a magnetic field is used. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the axialzero field splitting parameter D(T) of an NV center is temperaturedependent. With increasing temperature the energy gap between them_(s)=0 and m_(s)=−1, +1 spin states is reduced and consequently the ESRfrequency is shifted to lower values. FIG. 11A, by way of example,illustrates the temperature dependence of the ESR frequency with respectto temperature and FIG. 11B illustrates resulting resonance lines atdifferent temperatures, e.g., 300° K and 700° K. Thus, by employingODMR, the NV center may be used to measure local temperatures on therecording head with high spatial resolution, and thus, is suitable tocharacterize, e.g., near-field power at a near field transducer of aHAMR write head.

FIG. 12, by way of example, schematically illustrates the measurement ofODMR from a diamond film 110 with NV centers 112, similar to FIG. 9,with the diamond film 110 in contact with ABS of the recording head 114having a near field transducer 180, e.g., used with a HAMR write head.In heat assisted magnetic recording (HAMR), the recording medium islocally heated by a near-field emanating from the near field transducerwith, e.g. d=30 nm width. The recording head that is used in HAMRincludes both a write pole and a thermal device, e.g., laser lightsource, that illuminates a near-field transducer 180 and by exitingplasmon resonance in the near-field, the near-field emanates from thetransducer heating the recording medium. As discussed above in referenceto FIG. 1, the thermal device of the recording head 114 instead of or inaddition to the write pole may be controlled via the probe card 132 andthe biasing source 131. The biasing source 131 used to control thethermal device may be, e.g., pulsed or DC and may be a constant orvarying magnitude. If desired, separate probe cards and/or biasingsources may be used to control the write pole and thermal device. Forexample, multiple probes from a single probe card 132 may be connectedto multiple biasing sources in order to separately engage either thewrite or the HAMR thermal device, or both, in situ, and either insequential or simultaneous operation. If desired, the measurement may beperformed using a diamond film 110 with the NV center 112 held on thetip of an Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) arm 176, as illustrated in FIG.10.

FIG. 13 illustrates the temperature profile produced by a near fieldtransducer used in a HAMR write head. The NV centers 112 in the diamondfilm 110 may be used to measure the power of the near field at thetransducer and/or the spatial extent of the transducer 180 in the samemanner as the magnetic field and/or spatial extent of the write pole ismeasured. The diamond film 110 may be coated with a thin heat absorptionlayer 182, e.g., a few nanometers thick, that has low thermalconductivity, e.g. SiO₂, that functions as the recording medium to beheated. The diamond film 110 may be held close to or in contact with theABS of the recording head 114. Moreover, the diamond film 110 may bedeposited on the ABS of the recording head 114. Further, if desired, thediamond film 110 may be on the tip of an AFM arm as discussed above. Thediamond film 110 may be, e.g., implanted with the NV centers 112 or maybe a film that is embedded with nano-diamonds having NV centers. Thediamond film 110 may be a mono crystalline diamond film with a matrix ofequally spaced NV centers to measure the spatial extent of the nearfield transducer 180 and its power. The diamond film 110 may be a monocrystalline diamond film with a random distribution of NV centers 112 tomeasure the heating power with an estimate of the spatial extent of thenear field transducer 180. If the diamond film 110 is a film withsuspended nano-diamonds having a random distribution, the heating powerof the near field transducer 180 may be measured.

As illustrated in FIG. 12, the recording head 114, including thetransducer 180, is brought into contact with or sufficiently near theheat absorption layer 182 on the diamond film 110 that the near-fieldemanating from the transducer 180 locally increases the temperature ofthe heat absorption layer 182. The increase in temperature AT affectsthe electronic state of the NV centers 112 in the diamond film 110. Anexample of a temperature profile across the near field transducer isdepicted in FIG. 13. As can be seen, the maximum heating occurs in thecenter of the spatial extent of the near-field transducer.

As discussed above, a light source 102 (shown in FIG. 1) producesexcitation illumination 103 that is incident on the diamond film 110while in an external RF excitation field with varying excitationfrequencies or pulse sequence produced by the RF antenna 126. Inresponse to the excitation illumination 103 and while the near-field isproduced by transducer 180, the NV center produces spin dependent PL 113that is collected by the objective lens 122 and provided to the detector130 (shown in FIG. 1). If desired, depletion illumination 103 _(DEPL)may be scanned with respect to the recording head in two dimensions tomeasure ODMR. Moreover, as discussed above, a diamond film 110 with theNV center 112 held on the tip of an Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) arm176, as discussed, in FIG. 10 may be used in place of the depletionillumination. The integral PL emitted by the NVs is collected with ahigh numerical aperture objective lens 122 while applying an RF-field ofvarying frequency or a pulse sequence. A magnetic field may be producedby the write pole or an external magnetic field source, or no magneticfield may be used. Using a matrix of equally spaced NV centers, afrequency spectrum of the ODMR signal, such as that illustrated in FIG.14, may be generated and may be evaluated to extract temperatureinformation, as illustrated in FIG. 15 in the same way as described forthe write-field measurement, and using the known Temperature/ESRdependence, e.g., illustrated in FIGS. 11A and 11B. As can be seen inFIGS. 11A and 11B, temperature is inversely related to the ESRfrequency, and thus, the minimum excitation frequency in the ESRspectrum is used to determine the maximum temperature. Additionally,because the maximum heating occurs at the center of the near-fieldtransducer, the number of spectral lines in the ESR spectrum that areassociated with the center of the near-field transducer may be used todetermine the spatial extent of the near-field transducer. Moreover, ifdesired, the heat produced by the thermal device may be varied, e.g., byvarying the applied bias signal to the thermal device, while producing aconstant excitation frequency from the RF antenna 126. For example, theexcitation frequency of the RF antenna 126 may be set at a level atwhich a known good thermal device in a recording head heats anabsorption layer 182 to a specific temperature, and sample recordingheads may be tested at that excitation frequency to determine the biassignal necessary to produce same temperature. Thus, the efficiency ofthe thermal device in the recording head may be determined.

FIG. 16 illustrates an optical metrology device 100′, similar to opticalmetrology device 100 shown in FIG. 1, like designated elements being thesame, and is capable of characterizing a photon emitter on a nanometerlength scale using photoluminescence (PL) produced by a substitutionalimpurity 112 in a crystal film 110. As optical metrology device 100′characterizes a photon emitter, there is no need for the radio wavefrequency (RF) antenna 126, shown in FIG. 1. As discussed above, one ormore nitrogen vacancy centers (NV centers) in a diamond crystal may beused. The NV centers, which are basically artificial atoms with distinctquantum energy levels, show unique extrinsic and intrinsic optical spindynamics including stable photoluminescence based on radiatingtransitions between optically excited energy levels of their chargedquantum states. The photoluminescence may be produced by the NV centersin response to excitation illumination. Additionally, thephotoluminescence of an NV center may be turned “off” or reduced by thelight emitted from a photon emitter that is under test due to amechanism known as Stimulated Emission Depletion (STED) or alternativelyby Ground State Depletion (GSD) or Charge State Depletion (CSD). STED isused in super-resolution (SRM) microscopy to achieve spatial resolutionbeyond the optical diffraction limit using a laser light source forphotoluminescence depletion. Other than in SRM as discussed below, theSTED light source in the present disclosure is the device under test.The optical metrology device 100′ may optically detect thephotoluminescence of one or more NV centers 112 in a crystal film 110,e.g. using photon counting by employing a photo detector on a scanningmicroscope or by using a camera with high sensitivity. By comparing thedetected photoluminescence intensity produced in response to theexcitation illumination when no STED illumination from the photonemitter under test is present and the detected photoluminescenceintensity produced in response to the excitation illumination in thepresence of STED illumination from the photon emitter, the quenching ofthe photoluminescence intensity may be determined, sometimes referred toherein simply as photoluminescence quenching. The characteristics of thephoton emitter, including spatial and power characteristics, may bedetermined by analyzing the amount of photoluminescence quenching, e.g.,by fitting the photoluminescence quenching to a model or comparing thephotoluminescence quenching to a library of predetermined data.

The use of a confocal detection system enables detection ofphotoluminescence produced in response to the excitation illuminationfrom only a small volume of the crystal film 110, e.g., 1 μm³. The lightsource 102 may be, e.g., a laser, LED, etc., that excites the NV centerwith a continuous (CW) or pulsed excitation illumination, with one ormore wavelengths in a range of 460 nm to 580 nm, and which may be, e.g.,532 nm. With pulsed excitation illumination, the pulse width may be,e.g., approximately 800 ps with a 4-MHz repetition rate. The lightsource 102 may have a power density of, e.g., 40 kW/cm², to polarize theNV center by pumping it between the ground and the excited levels. Thelight from the light source 102 may be provided to a collimatorconsisting of lenses 104 and 106 either directly or by way of anintervening optical element, e.g., fiber optics or a light pipe. Thecollimator 104, 106 expands and collimates the light, which is focusedby lens 122, which is also used to collect the photoluminescenceemanating from the NV centers. In an embodiment in which the device is aconfocal microscope, the lens 106 (and/or other appropriate lens(es))may be moved back and forth, as illustrated by arrow 108 and/or a2-dimensional steering-mirror system could be used to move theexcitation illumination 103 in the back-aperture plane of the objectivelens 122 scanning the focused excitation illumination 103 in the sampleplane. Additionally, appropriate apertures may be used in an embodimentin which the microscope is a confocal microscope. Moreover, if desiredand as discussed below, additional light sources may be used along withlight source 102.

A beam splitter 120 receives the excitation illumination from the lightsource 102 and provides at least a portion of the excitationillumination to the objective lens 122. The excitation illumination isfocused on the surface of the crystal film 110 by the objective lens122, which may have a high numerical aperture (NA=0.95) or anoil-immersion lens with an NA of, e.g. 1.3. The objective lens 122 mayfocus the excitation illumination on the crystal film 110 at a normalangle of incidence. It should be understood, however, that an obliqueangle of incidence of the excitation illumination may be used ifdesired. The objective lens 122 focuses the light onto the crystal film110 with one or more NV centers 112. The crystal film 110 and NV centers112 are positioned to be in a near field emission of the photon emitter119 under test. By way of example, FIG. 16 illustrates the photonemitter 119 as a part of a Heat Assisted Magnetic Recording (HAMR)recording head 114. The photon emitter 119, for example, may be athermal device that heats the recording medium using a laser lightsource and a near field transducer. It should be understood, however,that the photon emitter 119 under test may be any other type of devicethat produces a near field of illumination. In addition to near fieldemitters, the optical metrology device may be used for characterizationof far field photon emitters with nanometer precision, which may beuseful for characterizing a laser, e.g., the beam waist of a focusedlaser, or optical fibers. For example, a focal spot of a focused laserbeam may be as small as 200 nm in diameter, which cannot easily becharacterized by conventional methods. By scanning the focal spot from afocused laser beam over the NV centers 112 or an optical fiber on thecrystal film 110, for example, the profile of the laser beam or opticalfiber may be resolved with nanometer resolution.

The crystal film 110 may be placed near or in contact with the photonemitter 119, or if desired, deposited on the air bearing surface (ABS)of the recording head 114, e.g., if the photon emitter 119 is part ofthe recording head. FIGS. 17A and 17B, by way of example, illustrate aside view and a back view, respectively, of recording head 114 incontact with crystal film 110. As illustrated in FIG. 17A, the recordinghead 114 includes a body, referred to as a slider 202, with a write polestructure 204, illustrated greatly enlarged, coupled to the back end ofthe slider 202. A light source 208, e.g. a laser diode, that is near thewrite pole structure 204 including the write pole 206 is integrated intothe recording head 114. Light from the integrated light source 208 iscoupled to a near field transducer 212 at the ABS via an optical waveguide 210. The near field illumination is produced by the near fieldtransducer 212 at the air bearing surface AB. As can be seen in FIG.17B, the top surface of the crystal film 110 may be patterned,illustrated with notches 111, forming islands with a width that isgreater than a maximum dimension of the expected quenching profile,i.e., the area subject to photoluminescence quenching by STED near fieldillumination produced by the photon emitter 119. For example, the islandwidth may be approximately half the width of the slider 202 or less. Thelength of the island is optional and may be greater than the length ofthe slider 202, and, in fact, may extend the length of the crystal film110 if desired. The ABS of the recording head 114, and moreparticularly, the near field transducer 212, may be placed in contactwith the crystal film 110 on a patterned island of the crystal film 110.

The NV centers 112 in the crystal film 110 may be arranged in the formof a matrix and may have a uniform or a random distribution with adefined average density. Different average densities of the NV centers112 in the crystal film 110 may be used depending on how the opticalmetrology device 100′ collects the photoluminescence. By way of example,however, an average density of the NV centers 112 may be, e.g. 200 NVcenters per μm² or such that the distance between adjacent NV centers112 is similar to or less than the dimension of the expected quenchingprofile, i.e., the area subject to photoluminescence quenching.Alternatively, the crystal film 110 may, in fact, include a number ofsmall crystals, each containing a number of NV centers 112. If desired,optical metrology device 100′ may include additional optic elements tomove the excitation illumination over the crystal film 110, e.g., in oneor two dimensions. In one embodiment, as discussed below, a second lightsource may be provided that produces STED illumination with a ringshaped beam that has a central zero intensity at the focal plane that iscoincident with the excitation illumination and which is scanned overthe crystal film 110. Alternatively, a single (or few) NV center 112 maybe used in the crystal film 110. In such an embodiment, relativemovement between the recording head 114 and the crystal film 110 may beproduced, e.g., as illustrated by actuator 118 in FIG. 16.

During measurement, photoluminescence 113 produced by the NV centers112, illustrated by the dotted line, will be collected by the objectivelens 122 and directed by the beam splitter 120 towards a detector 130.As illustrated, a spectral filter 124, such as a dichroic film, ispositioned before the detector 130 to remove any reflected excitationillumination and STED illumination from the photon emitter 119 and todirect only the photoluminescence to the detector 130. The spectralfilter 124, thus, may be a long-pass filter with a wavelength cut-offat, e.g., 580 nm, or a narrow band pass filter with a center wave lengthof e.g. 637 nm, to filter out any remaining excitation illumination andSTED illumination. The detector 130 may be, e.g., a non-imagingphotodetector, such as a silicon avalanche photodiode operating in thesignal photon counting regime, which detects the optical intensity at asingle spot. Alternatively a CCD camera can be used to detect theintensity of the photoluminescence.

The detector 130 is connected to a computer 140 and the computer 140receives, stores, and analyzes the optically detected data provided bythe detector 130. The computer 140 includes a processor 142 with memory144, as well as a user interface including e.g., a display 146 and inputdevices 148. A non-transitory computer-usable storage medium 150 havingcomputer-readable program code embodied may be used by the computer 140for causing the processor 142 to control the optical metrology device100′ and to perform the functions including the analysis describedherein. The data structures and software code for automaticallyimplementing one or more acts described in this detailed description canbe implemented by one of ordinary skill in the art in light of thepresent disclosure and stored, e.g., on a computer readable storagemedium 150, which may be any device or medium that can store code and/ordata for use by a computer system such as processor 142. Thecomputer-usable storage medium 150 may be, but is not limited to,magnetic and optical storage devices such as disk drives, magnetic tape,compact discs, and DVDs (digital versatile discs or digital videodiscs). A communication port 152 may also be used to receiveinstructions that are used to program the computer 140 to perform anyone or more of the functions described herein and may represent any typeof communication connection, such as to the internet or any othercomputer network. Additionally, the functions described herein may bestored in memory 144 or embodied in whole or in part within thecircuitry of an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or aprogrammable logic device (PLD), and the functions may be embodied in acomputer understandable descriptor language which may be used to createan ASIC or PLD that operates as herein described.

As illustrated, the computer 140 may be coupled to the recording head114, via a probe card 132 which is connected to the recording head 114using one or more probes 134, which may be, e.g., pogopins, probes, orother contacts such as wires that are wire bonded. The probe card 132may be coupled to a biasing source 131 that provides a bias signal, suchas a current or voltage signal, which is provided to the recording head114 via the probe card 132 and controls the photon emitter 119, i.e., ahigh intensity light source, on the recording head 114. If the lightsource is separate from the recording head 114, e.g., the probe card 132may control the light source, which is remote from the recording head114, to produce illumination that is incident on the photon emitter 119,which operates as a near field transducer.

The biasing source 131 may be connected to and controlled by thecomputer 140. The computer 140, thus, may control the illuminationproduced by the photon emitter 119 on the recording head 114, e.g., bycontrolling the bias signal provided to the recording head (or separateillumination source). The biasing source 131 may provide a plurality ofbias signals with different levels to the recording head 114.Accordingly, the recording head 114 may be controlled via the biasingsource 131 to produce near field illumination with a desired intensitythat is constant or varying with a desired pulse width and frequency.The varying near field illumination produced by the photon emitter 119may vary continuously or in a stepped manner.

Accordingly, the recording head 114 may be controlled via the biasingsource 131 to produce a constant or varying near field illumination.Additionally, when the recording head 114 includes a Dynamic-FlyingHeight (DFH) device, one of the probes 134 of the probe card 132 may beused to provide current to the microactuator device from a secondcircuit in the current or voltage source that is connected to thecomputer 140. Write heads use a DFH device as an adjustment mechanism tointernally bias the write pole structure, including the photon emitter,closer to or further from the air bearing surface. The DFH device istypically in the form of a heater incorporated into the write headstructure, with additional contact pads for external connection. Byapplying a bias to the additional contact pads via the probe card 132,the position of the photon emitter 114 can be adjusted towards or awayfrom the air bearing surface of the write head. By adjusting theposition of the photon emitter 119 via the DFH device, the performanceof the photon emitter 119 may be measured at different verticaldisplacement from the crystal film 110.

Additionally, when the recording head 114 includes a microactuatordevice, one of the probes 134 of the probe card 132 may be used toprovide current to the microactuator device. The source of the currentmay be a second circuit in the current or voltage source connected tothe computer 140. Write heads use a microactuator device as anadjustment mechanism to move the write pole structure, including thephoton emitter, in the cross-track direction to better align the writepole structure to the lands of a disk that is being written to. Themicroactuator device is incorporated into the write head structure,which includes additional contact pads for external connection. Byapplying a bias to the additional contact pads via the probe card 132,the position of the photon emitter 119 can be adjusted in thecross-track direction. By adjusting the position of the photon emitter119 via the microactuator device during measurement with the device, theperformance of the microactuator may be verified and the characteristicsof the photon emitter 119 may be measured at different positions.Additionally, with an adequate density of NV centers, e.g., a low NVcenter density, and sufficient movement caused by the microactuatordevice, the microactuator device may be used to produce relativemovement between the crystal film 110 and the photon emitter 119 duringmeasurement.

As discussed above, the crystal film 110 contains one or moresubstitutional impurities 112, such as NV centers. An NV center indiamond is a naturally occurring or technically created impurity in,e.g., a diamond crystal where a Nitrogen atom replaces a Carbon atomcreating a vacancy next to the Nitrogen atom. Nitrogen vacancy centersmay be created in a diamond crystal, e.g., using a type-Ib HPHTsingle-crystal sample that is initially embedded with nitrogenimpurities. For example, nitrogen impurities may be embedded byirradiation with a an ion-beam, e.g. N₂ ⁺ ions at 5 keV, in case of avery high purity diamond film or by an electron beam in case the diamondfilm already has nitrogen impurities and annealing, e.g., for 2 hours at850° C. The density of the NV centers within the crystal film may becontrolled, e.g., by controlling the applied irradiation dose, or usingappropriate masking techniques. For example, an ion beam fluence of 10¹¹cm² can result in a density of 8×10¹⁰ NV cm⁻². Moreover, by controllingthe energy of the implantation as well as the annealing process thedepth of the NV centers implanted in the crystal may be controlled.

An NV center may be optically excited, e.g., with excitationillumination having a wavelength range from 460 nm to 580 nm, whichyields an intense photoluminescence emission from the NV center withlifetimes in the millisecond range. For example, the NV center may beexcited with a laser at a wavelength of 532 nm and in response will emita broadband luminescence with a zero phonon line at 637 nm, at roomtemperature. In the mechanism of stimulated emission, an electron in anexcited state gives energy to an incoming photon and is forced to theground state before it can create photoluminescence by spontaneousemission.

In addition, the photoluminescence of an NV center may be turned “off”or the intensity reduced in time when the pulse of excitationillumination is followed by a longer wavelength, or with the samewavelength, pulse of sufficient intensity, e.g., from the photon emitter119 under test, due to a mechanism known as Stimulated EmissionDepletion (STED). By way of example, the excitation illumination mayhave a wavelength of 532 nm and a duration of 60 ps followed by a longerwavelength pulse from the photon emitter 119 under test, e.g. 830 nm,with a duration 3.2 ns, of sufficient intensity to quench the intensityof the photoluminescence. If desired, STED with a continuous (CW) orquasi CW illumination may be employed.

Thus, one or more NV centers in a crystal film may be used to measurecharacteristics of the photon emitter, including spatial and powercharacteristics by detecting quenching of the photoluminescenceintensity produced by NV centers caused by the near field illuminationof the photon emitter. The photoluminescence quenching data may beanalyzed, e.g., by fitting to a model or comparing a library of data, todetermine the desired characteristics of the photon emitter.

FIG. 18, by way of example, is a flow chart illustrating a method ofdetermining one or more characteristics of a photon emitter using NVcenters and an optical metrology device, such as the optical metrologydevice 100′. As illustrated, excitation illumination is produced, e.g.,by the optical metrology device 100′, and is incident on a crystal filmwith the one or more NV centers (302). As discussed above, the NVcenters produce photoluminescence having an intensity in response to theexcitation illumination. Illumination is produced from the photonemitter, where the illumination is incident on the crystal film with theone or more NV centers (304). The illumination produced by the photonemitter quenches the intensity of the photoluminescence from the one ormore nitrogen vacancy centers. The illumination from the photon emittermay be near field illumination or far field illumination. For example,the illumination may be produced by providing a bias signal to thephoton emitter, which causes the photon emitter to generate near fieldillumination. Where the photon emitter is a laser diode, a bias currentmay be used, but a bias voltage may be used for other types of lightsources if appropriate. For example, if the photon emitter may include alaser light source and near field transducer on a recording head, thebias current may be provided to the recording head via the probe card132 to cause the photon emitter to emit the near field illumination.Alternatively, the light source may be remote from the photon emitter,e.g., as illustrated with the near field transducer 114 in FIG. 17A,where light from the remote light source is provided to the near fieldtransducer, which produces the near field illumination in response. Theillumination may be far field illumination, such as that produced by alaser or fiber optics.

The amount of quenching of the intensity of the photoluminescenceproduced by the one or more NV centers caused by the illumination of thephoton emitter is detected (306). The amount of quenching of theintensity of the photoluminescence may be detected by subtracting thebackground photoluminescence intensity. In other words, a firstphotoluminescence intensity may be detected from the one or more NVcenters in response to the excitation illumination without the presenceof the illumination produced by the photon emitter. A secondphotoluminescence intensity may be detected from the one or more NVcenters in response to the excitation illumination in the presence ofthe illumination produced by the photon emitter, i.e., while theillumination from the photon emitter quenches the intensity of thephotoluminescence from the NV centers. The amount of quenching of theintensity of the photoluminescence may then be determined based on adifference between the first photoluminescence intensity and the secondphotoluminescence intensity.

The amount of quenching of the intensity of the photoluminescence isanalyzed to determine the one or more characteristics of the photonemitter (308). For example, the amount of quenching of the intensity ofthe photoluminescence may be analyzed by fitting the detected amount ofquenching of the intensity of the photoluminescence to aphotoluminescence quenching model. By way of example, the detectedamount of photoluminescence quenching may be used in a non-linear, multiparameter fit to a model of a photoluminescence quenching distributionprofile to determine the desired characteristics of the photon emitter.Additionally, or alternative, the amount of quenching of the intensityof the photoluminescence may be analyzed by comparing the amount ofquenching of the intensity of the photoluminescence to a library ofdata, which is pre-generated and stored, e.g., in memory of themetrology device. The pre-generated data in the library may be produced,e.g., using the photoluminescence quenching model or in any otherdesired manner, such as empirically. The amount of quenching of theintensity of the photoluminescence may be analyzed in other manners aswill be evident to those of ordinary skill in the art in light of thepresent disclosure. Characteristics that may be determined by analyzingthe amount of quenching of the intensity of the photoluminescence, forexample, may be the peak power or a width of the distribution profile.The width of the profile, for example when using a Lorentzian, may bethe Full Width Half Magnitude (FWHM) or FWHM Half Magnitude (HWHM) orother equivalent measure, but for the sake of ease of reference will bereferred to herein as FWHM. The characteristics of the photon emittermay be determined for different bias currents provided to the photonemitter. Moreover, the quenching data may be detected as a function ofthe bias current provided to the photon emitter and analyzed, e.g., byfitting to a photoluminescence quenching model of an integratedphotoluminescence quenching profile or comparing to a library of data todetermine characteristics such as the width of the distribution profileand a power scaling factor. Again, the library of data may be produced,e.g., using the photoluminescence quenching model of an integratedphotoluminescence quenching profile or in any other desired manner, suchas empirically.

FIG. 19, by way of illustration, shows a portion of a crystal film witha plurality of luminescing NV centers 402, illustrated as white spots,only a couple of which are labeled 402. As can be seen, the distributionof NV centers 402 may be inhomogeneous, i.e., non-uniform, but a crystalfilm with a homogeneous, i.e., uniform, distribution of NV centers maybe used if desired. The crystal film, by way of example, may be a singlecrystal with a number of NV centers or a plurality of nano-crystalscombined into the film, each nano-crystal containing one or more NVcenters. The NV centers are in the same x/y plane and may have a definedaverage density, e.g., of 200 NV centers per square micron, or anaverage spacing of 60 nm±30 nm, but other average densities and/oraverage spacing may be used depending on the physical characteristics ofthe photon emitter under test. The spatial resolution is determined bythe distance between the near-field illumination and the NV centers.Accordingly, for nanometer scale resolution, the NV centers should berelatively close to the top surface of the crystal film, e.g., adistance of 5 nm or less.

As discussed above, the NV centers are excited with excitationillumination at a wavelength of 532 nm, and luminesce at 637 nm, whichmay be collected, e.g., using a wide-field microscope with a CCD cameraor a scanning microscope with a photodetector. The illumination from thephoton emitter, however, will quench, i.e., turn off or reduce theintensity photoluminescence of the NV centers, due to STED. FIG. 19illustrates a photon emitter 404 under test as a spot and furtherillustrates a diffraction limited spot 406 of the imaging system as areference. By way of example, the photon emitter 404 may have awavelength of, e.g., 700 nm to 900 nm and may be a continuous wave (CW)or pulsed light emitter.

The crystal film with NV centers has a characteristic dependence of STEDon the power of the quenching light source. FIG. 20, by way of example,illustrates the quenching of the photoluminescence intensity produced bythe NV centers, i.e., the background subtracted photoluminescenceintensity, caused by a near-infrared CW laser beam, where the y-axisrepresents photoluminescence intensity in arbitrary units, and thex-axis represents the laser power of the quenching light source in mW.The photoluminescence quenching dependence DP is described by anexponential function as follows:DP(I)=m(I−I ₀)^(n)+const  eq. 1

where “I” represents the general intensity, which may be uniform orlocally varying, of the quenching light source, m is the quenchingscaling factor and n the quenching exponent, and const is the asymptoticdepletion value for very high depletion light intensity, for example, at300 mW illustrated in FIG. 20. The power dependence of the crystal filmhas to be measured once to determine the parameters I₀, m, n and const.The calibration of the power dependence of the crystal film may beperformed using an external laser light source, e.g., laser, with knownintensity I to produce data such as that shown in FIG. 20. Preferably,the calibration of the power dependence of the crystal film is performedat the location on the crystal film that will be used to test photonemitters, but if the average density of NV centers is uniform over theentire crystal film, calibration of the power dependence of the crystalfilm may be performed anywhere on the crystal film.

The photon emitter may be characterized based on its peak power and itsspatial distribution. FIG. 21, by way of example, illustrates a nearfield illumination profile for a near field photon emitter, where they-axis represents power of the photon emitter in mW and the x-axisrepresents the x-coordinate in nm. The peak power of the near fieldillumination profile is illustrated by line 602 and the FWHM isillustrated by arrows 604. The near field illumination profile NF isdescribed by a Lorentzian function with a parameter w that is the FWHMof the near-field distribution determined by the aperture size and thepeak power (P) of the photon emitter as follows:

$\begin{matrix}{{{NF}( {x,y,P} )} = {P\frac{w^{2}}{{4\lbrack {( {x - x_{0}} )^{2} + ( {y - y_{0}} )^{2}} \rbrack} + w^{2}}}} & {{eq}.\mspace{11mu} 2}\end{matrix}$

where x_(o) and y₀ are the coordinates with the peak power P. ALorentzian function is used in a model as an example but this could alsobe a Gaussian or any other function that can describe the near-fielddistribution. The use of different model functions may yield differentor additional characteristic parameters of the photon source related tothe extent and geometry of the near-filed distribution.

FIG. 22 illustrates an example of a photoluminescence quenching profilefor the NV centers of a crystal film, where the y-axis representsphotoluminescence intensity in arbitrary units and the x-axis representsthe x-coordinate in nm. As can be seen with a comparison of FIGS. 6 and7, the FWHM of the photoluminescence quenching profile (illustrated byarrows 704) may be larger than the FWHM of the near field illuminationprofile. The locally varying photoluminescence quenching I_(STED) may beusing equation 2 and equation 1 as follows:I _(STED)(x,y,P)=DP(NF(x,y,P))  eq. 3

Substituting NF(x,y,P) in equation 2 for the intensity I in equation 1,results in the following:

$\begin{matrix}{{I_{STED}( {x,y} )} = {m\lbrack {{P\frac{w^{2}}{{4\lbrack {( {x - x_{0}} )^{2} + ( {y - y_{0}} )^{2}} \rbrack} + w^{2}}} - I_{0}} \rbrack}^{n}} & {{eq}.\mspace{11mu} 4}\end{matrix}$

where I_(STED)(x, y) is the locally varying amount of quenching of theintensity of the photoluminescence with const=0, and P and w are fittingparameters of the peak power and the FWHM of the near field illuminationprofile, respectively, for a rotationally symmetric distribution.

FIG. 23, by way of illustration, shows in two dimensions the detectedquenching of the intensity of the photoluminescence produced by the NVcenters 802 caused by near field illumination of a photon emitter. InFIG. 23, the NV centers are illustrated as spots, with darker spotsrepresenting increased quenching. The near field illumination producedby the photon emitter interacts with the NV centers 802 turning off orreducing the intensity of the photoluminescence for individual NVcenters when the near field illumination at the individual NV centers isgreater than a characteristic threshold value. The photoluminescencequenching of FIG. 23 may be determined as the difference in the measuredphotoluminescence intensity from the NV centers without the quenchingillumination from the photon emitter and the measured photoluminescenceintensity from the NV centers in the presence of the quenchingillumination from the photon emitter. The intensity of thephotoluminescence from the NV centers may be measured using, e.g., awide-field microscope with a CCD camera or a scanning microscope with aphotodetector, which may be scanned in the x and y coordinates. Once thephotoluminescence quenching is detected, it may be analyzed, e.g., byfitting to a photoluminescence quenching model or compared to a libraryof data, to determine the desired characteristics of the photon emitter.

FIG. 24, by way of illustration, shows detected photoluminescencequenching data, i.e., the amount of quenching of the intensity of thephotoluminescence from the NV centers, as spots 902, along with a fitcurve 904 illustrating a spatially resolved quenching profile. Thephotoluminescence quenching data may be detected along a horizontal line804 in FIG. 23. The center line 804 may be determined from atwo-dimensional distribution of the photoluminescence quenching data asa line that extends through the point or area with the strongestquenching. The two-dimensional distribution of the photoluminescencequenching data may be produced from a two-dimensional scan of the photonemitter. Alternatively, a one-dimensional scan of the photon emitter maybe used to produce the photoluminescence quenching data from the NVcenters if the scan passes through the point or area with the strongestquenching. The detected photoluminescence quenching data may beanalyzed, e.g., by fitting to a photoluminescence quenching model, suchas equation 4, or compared to a library of data, which may be producedusing the model or empirically, to determine the one or morecharacteristics of the photon emitter. Thus, for example, a non-linear,multi parameter fit to the photoluminescence quenching profile model maybe used to determine the peak power P and the width of the near fieldillumination profile. For example, the parameter fit such as thatillustrated in FIG. 24 may provide a FWHM of 29.03 nm and a peak power Pof 3083 [a.u.] for the near field illumination profile.

Additionally, by varying the separation between the photon emitter andthe NV centers, the decay of the near-field power in the z-direction mayalso be measured. The separation between the photon emitter and the NVcenters may be controlled by moving the crystal film, e.g., using aAtomic Force Microscope (AFM) or other actuator holding the crystal filmand/or by moving the photon emitter, e.g., using a dynamic fly height(DFH) adjustment on the recording head.

If desired, the photoluminescence quenching may be detected for varyingbias currents that are applied to the photon emitter and the peak powerand FWHM of the near field illumination profile may be determined fordifferent bias currents.

The optical metrology device 100′ shown in FIG. 16 may detect thequenching of the intensity of the photoluminescence caused by a nearfield photon emitter in various manners. For example, FIG. 25schematically illustrates one implementation in which a crystal film 110with one or more NV centers 112 is held on the tip of an Atomic ForceMicroscope (AFM) arm 176 to measure a photon emitter 119. The embodimentshown in FIG. 25 is similar to the embodiment shown in FIG. 10, withoutthe RF antenna 126, like designated elements being the same. The crystalfilm 110 with one or more NV centers 112 on the tip of the arm 176 is incontact with or at a controlled distance from the photon emitter 119 onthe recording head 114. The crystal film 110 may be a micron sizeddiamond particle that includes a single or several NV centers 112. TheAFM arm 176 may be scanned over the photon emitter 119 on the recordinghead 114 in one or two dimensions, as illustrated by arrows 178. The useof a crystal film 110 with one or more NV centers 112 is held on the tipof an Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) arm 176 may be used in place, e.g.,of the STED illumination embodiments discussed herein. As discussedabove, a light source 102 (shown in FIG. 16) produces excitationillumination 103 that is focused by the objective lens 122 onto thecrystal film 110. In response to the excitation illumination 103, the NVcenter 112 produces photoluminescence 113 that is collected by theobjective lens 122 and provided to the detector 130 (shown in FIG. 16).As the crystal film 110 is scanned across the recording head 114,including the photon emitter 119 and ABS, at each measurement position,the intensity of the photoluminescence 113 is measured with and withoutthe near field illumination 115 from the photon emitter 119 to detectthe quenching of the intensity of the photoluminescence at eachmeasuring position. With the photoluminescence quenching detected at aplurality of measuring positions, a one dimensional line profile ortwo-dimensional distribution of the photoluminescence quenching may bedetermined. With a two-dimensional distribution of the photoluminescencequenching, the line profile through the strongest quenching point may beused to derive the peak power or the width of the near fieldillumination profile of the photon emitter by analyzing the amount ofquenching of the intensity of the photoluminescence, e.g., by fitting toa photoluminescence quenching model, or compared to a library of data,which may be produced using the model or empirically, as discussedabove. If desired, the scan may be repeated for different values of thebias current supplied to the light source, or equivalently, differentvalues of the bias current may be supplied to the light source at eachposition during a single scan of the crystal film 110.

Moreover, as discussed above, by varying the separation between thephoton emitter and the NV centers, the decay of the near-field power inthe z-direction may also be measured. The separation between the photonemitter and the NV centers may be controlled by moving the crystal film,e.g., using an actuator holding the crystal film and/or by moving thephoton emitter, e.g., using a dynamic fly height (DFH) adjustment on therecording head. Further, the photoluminescence quenching may be detectedfor varying bias currents that are applied to the photon emitter and thepeak power and width of the near field illumination profile may bedetermined for different bias currents.

In another implementation, the photoluminescence quenching of theintensity of the photoluminescence produced by a near field photonemitter may be detected without using relative movement between thephoton emitter and the crystal film. For example, the optical metrologydevice may use scanning external STED illumination while the photonemitter and crystal film are held stationary with respect to each other.

FIG. 26 illustrates, by way of example, the optical metrology device100′ with additional light sources to produce STED illumination toimprove resolution and to scan the photon emitter. The optical metrologydevice 100′ in FIG. 26 is similar to the embodiment shown in FIG. 4,without the RF antenna 126, like designated elements being the same. Asillustrated, optical metrology device 100′ includes a second lightsource 102 _(STED) that produces STED illumination 103 _(STED) having adifferent wavelength as the light source 102, and that is coincident onthe crystal film 110 with the excitation illumination 103 from lightsource 102. The light source 102 produces excitation illumination 103that has a Gaussian point spread function and produces a relativelylarge diffraction limited spot on the crystal film 110. FIG. 27, by wayof example, illustrates the Gaussian point spread function of theexcitation illumination 103 with a solid line. The second light source102 _(STED) produces light that passes through a vortex phase plate 164to produce a ring shaped beam that has a central zero intensity at thefocal plane. FIG. 27, by way of example, illustrates a ring shaped pointintensity distribution of the STED illumination 103 _(STED), which iscoincident with the excitation illumination 103. The STED illumination103 _(STED) quenches the intensity of the photoluminescence produced bythe NV centers 112 in the crystal film 110 that are off-center relativeto the excitation illumination 103, so that the off-center NV centersonly contribute a constant background, which may be subtracted from thephotoluminescence quenching signal produced by the photon emitter 119under test, thereby providing a photoluminescence quenching signal fromonly the NV centers in the center of the STED illumination 103 _(STED).FIG. 28 illustrates the effective point intensity distribution 166 ofthe excitation illumination 103 combined with the STED illumination 103_(STED). The coincident excitation illumination 103 and STEDillumination 103 _(STED) may be scanned over the crystal film 110 at theregion of interest by two-dimensional deflection in the back aperture ofthe objective lens 122 to detect the photoluminescence quenching causedby the photon emitter 119 in two dimensions, e.g., using one or moremirrors 117 in the beam path, which may be controlled by the computer140.

The STED illumination 103 _(STED) may have a wavelength greater than theexcitation illumination 103, e.g., greater than 532 nm, and withincreased power. For example, a reduction in the photoluminescence maybe achieved for STED illumination 103 _(STED) with power greater than 2MW/cm². The STED illumination 103 _(STED) may be continuous (CW) orpulsed excitation, with a pulse width of, e.g. 150 ps, where a pulsedSTED illumination 103 _(STED) results in stronger quenching of theintensity of the photoluminescence.

By determining the characteristics of the photon emitter, e.g., the peakpower or power conversion factor and the aperture diameter determined, afinished photon emitter may be verified. For example, where the photonemitter is on a recording head, e.g., a HAMR head, each finished slider(or a sampling of finished sliders) may be verified by comparing thedetermined characteristics to an acceptable threshold. Recording headswith photon emitters having a peak power, a power conversion factor, oraperture diameter that is not within acceptable levels may be rejected.

Additionally, the characteristics of the photon emitter may be used inthe process of attaching photon emitters to sliders, in the case of aHAMR head, or other types of devices. For example, the characteristicsof the photon emitter, e.g., peak power, may be detected while activelyaligning the laser light source to the slider, thereby enabling anoptimum alignment between the laser light source and the slider, orother types of devices.

Additionally, the photon emitter discussed herein is a near fieldillumination source, such as the type used in recording heads. However,if desired, other near field illumination photon emitters may be tested,including optical fibers, plasmon tips for optical near field microscopy(SNOM), nano-photonics devices, optical wave-guides, laser-diodes, laserfocal spot (beam waist) characterization. Moreover, it is possible tomeasure characteristics of far field emitters, such as a laser or fiberoptics. For example, the process may be used to profile a laser beamproduced by a laser or characterize fiber optics with a high degree ofprecision, i.e., on a nanometer length scale.

In another embodiment, a probe resembling, e.g., an Atomic ForceMicroscope (AFM) probe in shape and size and that is suitable to beattached to an AFM, may be created from a diamond film. The probeincludes a tip that incorporates a single or a multitude of NV centerslocated near the end of the tip facing the device under test. A beveledportion at the end of the probe arm directs excitation light to the NVcenter and directs photoluminescence light emanating from the NV centerinto the probe arm. The probe arm acts as an optical waveguide topropagate the emission from the NV center with high efficiency. Variousoptical components may be mounted to the probe, e.g., via a beamsplitter, including the light source (or a portion of the light source),a detector, as well as an RF antenna, if used. The integrated componentsenable excitation of photoluminescence in the NV center as well asoptically detected Electron Spin Resonance (ODMR) and temperaturemeasurements. Further, the probe may serve as a light probe utilizingthe physical effect of Stimulated Emission Depletion (STED) caused bylight from the light source under test acting on the photoluminescenceradiation emanating from the NV center.

By way of example, FIG. 29 illustrates a probe arm assembly 300 in whichthe NV center 112 is positioned at the tip of a probe arm 376, similarto the arm 176 discussed in reference to FIGS. 10 and 25. Asillustrated, the arm 376 and the tip 377 are produced from a crystalfilm, such as a diamond film. The NV center 112 is produced to be in thetip 377, as illustrated in FIG. 29. Thus, the arm is a crystal arm withthe crystal probe tip at one end with the at least one nitrogen vacancycenter in the crystal tip. A beam splitter 320 is connected to the arm376 and a light source 302 to produce the excitation illumination 303and a detector 330 for the photoluminescence 313 produced by the NVcenter 112 are connected to the beam splitter 320. The beam splitter 302may be is composed of e.g. two micro prisms. The beam splitter 302 maybe a dichroic beam splitter, e.g., including optical coatings so thatlight emitted from the light source 302, e.g., having a wavelengthshorter than 600 nm, is transmitted into the probe arm 376 andphotoluminescence 313 produced by the NV center 112, e.g., having awavelength greater than 600 nm, is reflected to the detector 330.Advantageously, the beam splitter 320 and arm 376 may be directlyconnected, i.e., with no intervening focusing optics disposed betweenthe beam splitter 320 and the arm 376. Moreover, the light source 302and detector 330 may be connected to the beam splitter 320 so that nointervening focusing optics need be disposed between the light source302 and the beam splitter 320 and/or the detector 330 and the beamsplitter 320. Thus, the excitation illumination from the light source302 is introduced into an end of the crystal arm 376 that is oppositethe end of the crystal arm 376 with the probe tip 377.

FIG. 30 illustrates another embodiment of a probe arm assembly 300′,that is similar to probe arm assembly 300, like designated elementsbeing the same. The arm assembly 300′ of FIG. 30, however, includes anarm 376′ that includes an enlarged end 380 that is coupled to the beamsplitter 320. The enlarged end 380 enables a greater surface area of thearm 376′ to be coupled to the beam splitter 320 thereby a largerinterface through which excitation illumination 303 andphotoluminescence 313 may be coupled into and out of the arm 376′.

The arm 376 may be produced using a diamond film with NV centersimplanted to a desired depth. Lithography, such as electron-beamlithography, may be used to define in a SiO₂ mask the probe tip 377 andthe enlarged end 380, if used. The diamond film may be etched, e.g.,using reactive ion etching (RIE) to define the probe tip 377 andenlarged end 380 if used. Another mask deposition, lithography, and etchprocess may be used to define the opposite side of the arm 376 includingthe surface to be mounted to the holder plate 340 and the enlarged end380, if used. The bevel 397 on the probe arm 376 may be produced, e.g.,through isotropic wet-etching with a sacrificial layer, mechanicalpolishing, anisotropic wet-etching, or focused ion-beam etching. The arm376 may be cut through the diamond film, e.g., using an etching process.With a sparse implantation of NV centers in the initial diamond film,the resulting probe tip 377 may have only a limited number of NV centers112. Post processing testing of the probe tip 377 for photoluminescencemay be used to ensure the presence and number of NV centers in the probetip 377.

The light source 302 for either arm assembly 300 or arm assembly 300′,collectively referred to herein as arm assembly 300, may be, e.g., alaser diode or LED chip that is mounted to the beam splitter 320. Ifdesired, the light source 302 may include a fiber optic or a light pipethat connects a light emitter, such as a laser or LED, to the beamsplitter 320. As discussed previously, the light source 302 may excitethe NV center with a continuous (CW) or pulsed excitation illumination,with one or more wavelengths in a range of 460 nm to 580 nm, and whichmay be, e.g., 532 nm. With pulsed excitation illumination, the pulsewidth may be, e.g., approximately 800 ps with a 4-MHz repetition rate.The light source 302 may have a power density of, e.g., 40 kW/cm², topolarize the NV center by pumping it between the ground and the excitedlevels.

The detector 330 may be e.g., a non-imaging photodetector, such as asilicon avalanche photodiode operating in the single photon regime,i.e., using photon counting, which detects the optical intensity at asingle spot. If desired, a CCD or CMOS array may be used, but becausethe photoluminescence is not being imaged, a CCD or CMOS array isunnecessary. The use of a camera, e.g., using a CCD or CMOS array toprovide an overview of the sample during testing, however, may bedesirable. As illustrated, a spectral filter 324, such as a dichroicfilm, may be positioned between the detector 330 and the beam splitter320. The spectral filter 324 may be an integral part of the beamsplitter 320, e.g., an optical coating. The spectral filter 324 removesany reflected excitation illumination 303 and directs only thephotoluminescence 313 to the detector 330. The spectral filter 124,thus, may be a long-pass filter with a wavelength cut-off at, e.g., 580nm, to filter out any remaining pump light. Thus, the detector 330 isphysical connected to the beam splitter 320, either directly or with aspectral filter 324 disposed between the detector 330 and the beamsplitter 320, with no intervening focusing optics disposed between thebeam splitter 320 and the detector 330. The filter 324 may be anintegral part of the beam splitter 320,

The beam splitter 320 may be, e.g., a micro-prism or a combination oftwo micro-prisms, that passes the excitation illumination 303 from thelight source 302 to the arm 376 and reflects the returningphotoluminescence 313 towards the detector 330. If desired, the beamsplitter 320 may be configured to reflect the excitation illumination303 from the light source 302 and transmit the returningphotoluminescence 313 to the detector 330. If desired, the beam splitter320 may be a dichroic beam splitter which may eliminate the need for thespectral filter 324 before the detector 330.

As illustrated in FIG. 29, as shown more closely in FIG. 31, arm 376acts as an optical waveguide by means of total internal reflection. Theend 379 of the arm 376 may be beveled to direct the excitationillumination 303 into the tip 377 and to direct the photoluminescence313 from the NV center 112 into the length of the arm 376. Thus, theexcitation illumination 303 from the light source 302 is introduced intothe arm 376 via the beam splitter 320, without focusing optics, isguided along the length of the arm 376 via total internal reflection andthe arm 376 is configured to reflect the light, e.g., 90°, into the tip377 to the NV center 112. The arm 376 is configured to reflectphotoluminescence 313 from the NV center 112 in the tip 377, e.g., 90°,out of the tip 377 into the arm 376, and the photoluminescence 313 isguided along the length of the arm 376 via total internal reflectionuntil it is received by detector 330, via the beam splitter 320, withoutfocusing optics.

The arm 376 with beam splitter 320 may be mounted on a holder plate 340,which is mounted to the AFM during operation. For example, the arm 376and beam splitter 320 may be glued to the holder plate 340. For example,the arm 376 may be glued onto the holder plate 340 referenced to an edgeon the holder plate 340 or placed in a trench in the holder plate 340.FIGS. 32 and 33, by way of example, illustrate a side view and a topview of the arm 376 with beam splitter 320 mounted on the holder plate340. The light source 302 and detector 330 may also be mounted on theholder plate 340 if desired and the holder plate 340 may includeconductive pads and leads 304 and 332 for the desired electricalconnections. Alternatively, one or both the light source 302 anddetector 330 may be mounted on the beam splitter 320, which is thenmounted on the holder plate 340. For example, FIG. 33 illustrates thedetector 330 coupled to the side of the beam splitter 230, along withspectral filter 324, and thus, detector 330 may be mounted to the holderplate 340. FIG. 29, on the other hand, illustrates the detector 330coupled to the top of the beam splitter 230, and thus, the detector 330may be mounted to the beam splitter 230, via intervening spectral filter324.

FIG. 34 illustrates another embodiment of an arm assembly 300″ that issimilar to arm assembly 300, e.g., illustrated in FIG. 33, except that aseparate beam splitter 320 is not used with arm assembly 300″. Asillustrated, the end 382 of the probe arm 376″ that is nearest the lightsource 302 and detector 330 may be beveled, to reflect photoluminescencelight to the detector 330. It will be understood that thephotoluminescence light is reflected by the beveled portion of the end382 and is extracted through the side of the probe arm 376″ at the end382, and therefore is referred to herein as being extracted through theend 382. The detector 330 is in direct contact with the side of theprobe arm 376″ at the end 382 to receive the photoluminescence lightthat is reflected by the beveled portion of the end 382. A dichroicfilter 384 may be deposited on the beveled portion of the end 382 toassist in the reflection of the photoluminescence light but allowing theexcitation illumination from light source 302 to enter the probe arm376″. The light source 302 may be separated from the probe arm 376″,e.g., by approximately half the width of the detector 330. The aperturesof the light source 302 and the detector 330 are centered on the beveledportion of the end 382.

The arm assembly 300 may be used in the same manner as arm 176 discussedin reference to FIG. 10 to characterize magnetic recording heads. Ifdesired, an RF antenna 326 may be located on the arm 376 to provide anexcitation field to the NV center 112. The RF antenna 326 may produce adesired excitation field as discussed above. The RF antenna 326 may beconfigured, e.g., by positioning and orientation, to produce the desiredexcitation field that is incident on the NV center 112 but will havelittle impact on the recording head being tested. For example, with theRF antenna 326 being located close to the NV center 112, a reduced RFexcitation field may be used. Moreover, as illustrated in FIG. 35, theRF antenna 326 may be oriented and configured to focus the excitationfield 327 on the tip 377 with the NV center 112, and accordingly, littleor no excitation field will be directly incident on the recording head.With the presence of the RF antenna 326, the holder plate 340 mayinclude conductive pads and leads for the desired electricalconnections. If desired, however, the RF antenna 326 may be separatefrom the arm 376, e.g., as illustrated in FIG. 10. Thus, the arm 376 maybe scanned over the recording head 114 (as illustrated in FIG. 10) intwo dimensions and the photoluminescence 113 from the NV center(s) 112is collected. It should be understood that scanning is performed byproducing relative movement between the arm 376 and the sample, e.g.,the arm 376 may move in two dimensions and the sample held stationary orthe sample may move in two dimensions while the arm 376 is heldstationary, or both the arm 376 and sample may move. Additionally, thearm 376 and/or sample may move in the vertical dimension to place thetip 377 in contact with or near the sample. Thus, the tip 377 with theNV center(s) 112 may be in contact with or at a controlled distance fromthe recording head 114. The ODMR may be measured from the NV center(s)112 at the tip 377 of the arm 376, at varying excitation frequencies ofthe excitation field and/or varying magnetic fields produced by therecording head 114 as the arm 376 is scanned over the recording head intwo dimensions.

Additionally, the arm assembly 300 may be used in the same manner as arm176 discussed in reference to FIG. 25 to characterize a photon emitter.If the arm assembly 300 is used to characterize a photon emitter, the RFantenna 326 is not needed. Again, the arm 376 may be scanned over thedevice being tested, e.g., the photon emitter 119 (shown in FIG. 25) inone or two dimensions and the photoluminescence 113 from the NVcenter(s) 112 is collected, while the tip 377 with the NV center(s) 112is in contact with or at a controlled distance from the photon emitter119. It should be understood that scanning is performed by producingrelative movement between the arm 376 and the sample, e.g., the arm 376may move in two dimensions and the sample held stationary or the samplemay move in two dimensions while the arm 376 is held stationary, or boththe arm 376 and sample may move. Additionally, the arm 376 and/or samplemay move in the vertical dimension to place the tip 377 in contact withor near the sample. The light source 302 produces excitationillumination 303 that is directed to the NV center 112 in the tip 377via the beam splitter 320 and arm 376. In response to the excitationillumination 103, the NV center 112 produces photoluminescence 113 thatis directed back through the arm 376 and provided to the detector 330via the beam splitter 320. As the arm 376 is scanned across therecording head 114, including the photon emitter 119 and ABS, at eachmeasurement position, the intensity of the photoluminescence 113 ismeasured with and without the near field illumination 115 from thephoton emitter 119 to detect the quenching of the intensity of thephotoluminescence at each measuring position. With the photoluminescencequenching detected at a plurality of measuring positions, a onedimensional line profile or two-dimensional distribution of thephotoluminescence quenching may be determined. With a two-dimensionaldistribution of the photoluminescence quenching, the line profilethrough the strongest quenching point may be used to derive the peakpower or the width of the near field illumination profile of the photonemitter by analyzing the amount of quenching of the intensity of thephotoluminescence, e.g., by fitting to a photoluminescence quenchingmodel, or compared to a library of data, which may be produced using themodel or empirically, as discussed above. If desired, the scan may berepeated for different values of the bias current supplied to the lightsource, or equivalently, different values of the bias current may besupplied to the light source at each position during a single scan ofthe arm 376.

With the use of arm assembly 300, with the detector 330 connected to arm376 via beam splitter 320 to receive photoluminescence 313 withoutfocusing optics, the efficiency of light extraction is improved.Accordingly, the signal to noise ratio is improved and fewer NV centers112 are required with arm assembly 300, thereby improving spatialresolution. Moreover, measuring time may be decreased as loss of theresulting photoluminescence 313 from the NV centers 112 is reduced oreliminated by guiding the photoluminescence 313 to the detector 330.

Additionally, the probe arm 376 may be configured to determine acharacteristic of the recording head using measured ODMR based on theheating of the probe tip 377 by a thermal device and near-fieldtransducer in a recording head, such as a HAMR head, as the probe arm376 is scanned over the sample, as discussed above. For example, a biassignal may be provided to the thermal device, which causes thenear-field transducer to heat the probe tip 377. The ODMR may bemeasured from the NV center(s) 112 at the tip 377 of the arm 376. Theincrease in temperature caused by the thermal device and near-fieldtransducer affects the electronic state of the NV centers 112, fromwhich a desired characteristic may be determined, as discussed above.Moreover, if desired, as illustrated in FIG. 36, a heat absorption layer378, similar to the absorption layer 118 discussed above, may be coatedon the tip 377 of the probe arm 367, where the thermal device andnear-field transducer heat the absorption layer 378 as the probe arm 376is scanned over the sample.

Although the present invention is illustrated in connection withspecific embodiments for instructional purposes, the present inventionis not limited thereto. Various adaptations and modifications may bemade without departing from the scope of the invention. Therefore, thespirit and scope of the appended claims should not be limited to theforegoing description.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of determining one or morecharacteristics of a photon emitter, the method comprising: producingexcitation illumination that is incident on at least one nitrogenvacancy center in a probe tip of a probe, wherein the at least onenitrogen vacancy center produces photoluminescence with an intensity inresponse to the excitation illumination; producing illumination from thephoton emitter, the illumination being incident on the at least onenitrogen vacancy center, wherein the photon emitter is an optical devicewith a near-field aperture on a recording head, wherein the illuminationproduced by the photon emitter quenches the intensity of thephotoluminescence from the at least one nitrogen vacancy center;detecting an amount of quenching of the intensity of thephotoluminescence from the at least one nitrogen vacancy center causedby the illumination of the photon emitter; and analyzing the amount ofquenching of the intensity of the photoluminescence to determine the oneor more characteristics of the photon emitter.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein the probe tip comprises a crystal particle and the at least onenitrogen vacancy center is in the crystal particle, further comprising:focusing the excitation illumination on the crystal particle; andreceiving the photoluminescence from the at least one nitrogen vacancycenter with a microscope.
 3. A method of determining one or morecharacteristics of a photon emitter, the method comprising: producingexcitation illumination that is incident on at least one nitrogenvacancy center in a probe tip of a probe, wherein the at least onenitrogen vacancy center produces photoluminescence with an intensity inresponse to the excitation illumination, wherein the probe comprises acrystal arm and the probe tip is at a first end of the crystal arm andthe at least one nitrogen vacancy center is in the probe tip; producingillumination from the photon emitter, the illumination being incident onthe at least one nitrogen vacancy center, wherein the illuminationproduced by the photon emitter quenches the intensity of thephotoluminescence from the at least one nitrogen vacancy center;detecting an amount of quenching of the intensity of thephotoluminescence from the at least one nitrogen vacancy center causedby the illumination of the photon emitter; and analyzing the amount ofquenching of the intensity of the photoluminescence to determine the oneor more characteristics of the photon emitter.
 4. The method of claim 3,wherein producing the excitation illumination that is incident on the atleast one nitrogen vacancy center comprises introducing the excitationillumination at a second end of the crystal arm that is opposite thefirst end of the crystal arm, wherein the excitation illumination isguided via total internal reflection through the crystal arm and isreflected into the probe tip.
 5. The method of claim 4, whereinintroducing the excitation illumination at the second end of the crystalarm is performed without focusing the excitation illumination.
 6. Themethod of claim 4, wherein introducing the excitation illumination atthe second end of the crystal arm comprises one of transmitting orreflecting the excitation illumination into the crystal arm by a beamsplitter that is directly connected to the second end of the crystalarm.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein detecting the amount of quenchingof the intensity of the photoluminescence from the at least one nitrogenvacancy center caused by the illumination of the photon emittercomprises detecting photoluminescence from the at least one nitrogenvacancy center with a detector that is physical connected to the beamsplitter either directly or with a spectral filter disposed between thedetector and the beam splitter.
 8. The method of claim 4, whereindetecting the amount of quenching of the intensity of thephotoluminescence from the at least one nitrogen vacancy center causedby the illumination of the photon emitter comprises detectingphotoluminescence produced by the at least one nitrogen vacancy centerin the probe tip and that is reflected into the crystal arm andextracted through the second end of the crystal arm.
 9. The method ofclaim 8, wherein the second end of the crystal arm reflects thephotoluminescence to a detector, and wherein the excitation illuminationis introduced into the crystal arm by transmitting the excitationillumination through the second end of the crystal arm.
 10. The methodof claim 8, wherein the photoluminescence extracted through the secondend of the crystal arm is detected without focusing thephotoluminescence.
 11. The method of claim 1, the method furthercomprising: scanning the probe tip over the photon emitter whiledetecting the quenching of the intensity of the photoluminescence toproduce a one-dimensional distribution of the quenching of the intensityof the photoluminescence or a two-dimensional distribution of thequenching of the intensity of the photoluminescence; wherein analyzingthe quenching of the intensity of the photoluminescence produces a peakpower and a width of an illumination profile produced by the photonemitter.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein when the two-dimensionaldistribution of the quenching of the intensity of the photoluminescenceis produced, a line extending through a point of greatest quenching ofthe two-dimensional distribution is used as a line profile of thequenching of the intensity of the photoluminescence, and whereinanalyzing the quenching of the intensity of the photoluminescence usesthe line profile of the quenching of the photoluminescence.
 13. Themethod of claim 1, wherein analyzing the amount of quenching of theintensity of the photoluminescence comprises fitting the amount ofquenching of the intensity of the photoluminescence to aphotoluminescence quenching model to determine the one or morecharacteristics of the photon emitter.
 14. The method of claim 1,wherein analyzing the amount of quenching of the intensity of thephotoluminescence comprises comparing the amount of quenching of theintensity of the photoluminescence to a library of data to determine theone or more characteristics of the photon emitter.
 15. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the illumination produced by the photon emitter is nearfield illumination.
 16. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting theamount of quenching of the intensity of the photoluminescence from theat least one nitrogen vacancy center comprises: detecting a firstphotoluminescence intensity from the at least one nitrogen vacancycenter in response to the excitation illumination without theillumination produced by the photon emitter incident on the at least onenitrogen vacancy center; detecting a second photoluminescence intensityfrom the at least one nitrogen vacancy center in response to theexcitation illumination with the illumination produced by the photonemitter incident on the at least one nitrogen vacancy center; anddetermining the amount of quenching of the intensity of thephotoluminescence based on a difference between the firstphotoluminescence intensity and the second photoluminescence intensity.17. A method of determining one or more characteristics of a photonemitter, the method comprising: producing excitation illumination thatis incident on at least one nitrogen vacancy center in a probe tip of aprobe, wherein the at least one nitrogen vacancy center producesphotoluminescence with an intensity in response to the excitationillumination; producing illumination from the photon emitter, theillumination being incident on the at least one nitrogen vacancy center,wherein the illumination produced by the photon emitter quenches theintensity of the photoluminescence from the at least one nitrogenvacancy center; detecting an amount of quenching of the intensity of thephotoluminescence from the at least one nitrogen vacancy center causedby the illumination of the photon emitter; analyzing the amount ofquenching of the intensity of the photoluminescence to determine the oneor more characteristics of the photon emitter; and providing differentmagnitudes of a bias current to the photon emitter, wherein the one ormore characteristics of the photon emitter are determined for thedifferent magnitudes of the bias current.
 18. An apparatus fordetermining one or more characteristics of a photon emitter, theapparatus comprising: a light source that produces excitationillumination that is incident on at least one nitrogen vacancy center ina probe tip of a probe, wherein the at least one nitrogen vacancy centerproduces photoluminescence with an intensity in response to theexcitation illumination; a detector configured to detect thephotoluminescence produced by the at least one nitrogen vacancy centerin response to the excitation illumination; a bias source configured toprovide bias signals; a probe card coupled to the bias source andconfigured to be connected to a device that includes the photon emitter,the probe card provides a bias signal to the device that causes thephoton emitter to emit illumination that is incident on the at least onenitrogen vacancy center, wherein the illumination produced by the photonemitter quenches the intensity of the photoluminescence from the atleast one nitrogen vacancy center; and a processor coupled to controlthe light source and the bias source and to receive signals from thedetector, the processor being configured to determine an amount ofquenching of the intensity of the photoluminescence from the at leastone nitrogen vacancy center caused by the illumination produced by thephoton emitter, and to analyze the amount of quenching of the intensityof the photoluminescence to determine the one or more characteristics ofthe photon emitter.
 19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the probe tipcomprises a crystal particle and the at least one nitrogen vacancycenter is in the crystal particle, further comprising: at least one lensconfigured to focus the excitation illumination on the probe tip and toproject photoluminescence produced by the at least one nitrogen vacancycenter on the detector.
 20. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the probecomprises a crystal arm and the probe tip is at a first end of thecrystal arm and the at least one nitrogen vacancy center is in the probetip.
 21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the excitation illuminationfrom the light source is introduced into a second end of the crystal armthat is opposite the first end of the crystal arm, wherein theexcitation illumination is guided via total internal reflection throughthe crystal arm, and wherein the crystal arm is configured to reflectthe excitation illumination into the probe tip.
 22. The apparatus ofclaim 21, wherein the excitation illumination from the light source isintroduced into a second end of the crystal arm without focusing opticsto focus the excitation illumination.
 23. The apparatus of claim 21,further comprising a beam splitter that is directly connected to thesecond end of the crystal arm, wherein the beam splitter transmits orreflects the excitation illumination from the light source into thecrystal arm.
 24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the detector isphysical connected to the beam splitter either directly or with aspectral filter disposed between the detector and the beam splitter. 25.The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the crystal arm is configured toreflect the photoluminescence produced by the at least one nitrogenvacancy center in the probe tip into the crystal arm and thephotoluminescence is guided via total internal reflection through thecrystal arm and is extracted through the second end of the crystal arm.26. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the second end of the crystal armis configured to reflect the photoluminescence to the detector, andwherein the excitation illumination is introduced into the crystal armby transmitting the excitation illumination through the second end ofthe crystal arm.
 27. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein thephotoluminescence extracted through the second end of the crystal arm isdetected by the detector without intervening focusing optics.
 28. Theapparatus of claim 18, wherein the processor is configured to analyzethe quenching of the intensity of the photoluminescence to determine apeak power and a width of an illumination profile produced by the photonemitter.
 29. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein: the processor iscoupled to the probe and causes the probe to scan the probe tip over thephoton emitter while the detector detects the photoluminescence toproduce a one-dimensional distribution of the quenching of the intensityof the photoluminescence or a two-dimensional distribution of thequenching of the intensity of the photoluminescence; the processor isfurther configured to determine a line extending through a point ofgreatest quenching of the two-dimensional distribution when thetwo-dimensional distribution of the quenching of the intensity of thephotoluminescence is produced, the line is used as a line profile of thequenching of the intensity of the photoluminescence, and wherein theprocessor is configured to analyze the quenching of the intensity of thephotoluminescence using the line profile of the quenching of thephotoluminescence.
 30. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the processoris configured to analyze the amount of quenching of the intensity of thephotoluminescence by being configured to fit the amount of quenching ofthe intensity of the photoluminescence to a photoluminescence quenchingmodel to determine the one or more characteristics of the photonemitter.
 31. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the processor isconfigured to analyze the amount of quenching of the intensity of thephotoluminescence by being configured to compare the amount of quenchingof the intensity of the photoluminescence to a library of data todetermine the one or more characteristics of the photon emitter.
 32. Theapparatus of claim 18, wherein the processor is configured to determinethe amount of quenching of the intensity of the photoluminescence fromthe at least one nitrogen vacancy center by being configured to: causethe detector to detect a first photoluminescence intensity from the atleast one nitrogen vacancy center in response to the excitationillumination without the illumination produced by the photon emitterincident on the at least one nitrogen vacancy center; cause the detectorto detect a second photoluminescence intensity from the at least onenitrogen vacancy center in response to the excitation illumination withthe illumination produced by the photon emitter incident on the at leastone nitrogen vacancy center; wherein the amount of quenching of theintensity of the photoluminescence is determined based on a differencebetween the first photoluminescence intensity and the secondphotoluminescence intensity.
 33. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein theprocessor is configured to cause the bias source to provide differentmagnitudes of a bias current to the device, wherein the one or morecharacteristics of the photon emitter are determined for the differentmagnitudes of the bias current.
 34. The apparatus of claim 18, whereinthe photon emitter is an optical device with a near-field transducer ona recording head.